Grateful
by LikeTheBlackAndWhiteCat
Summary: They told her that she should be grateful. Grateful for what though? Grateful that he took her back in? Grateful that he beat her? Grateful that he scared her brother? Or maybe she should be grateful for a different reason. Maybe she should be grateful for the chance she later got... Maybe she should be grateful when he died... (AU)
1. Chapter 1

**So... new story! Belonging is like my main focus out of writing-y stuff but I had an idea and decided to write it, so here it is!**

 **Summary: AU at pilot. What is her foster father took Callie back in? What would have happened then? Would Callie and Jude still have found the Fosters? And how?**

 **I know it's been done before, but here's my take on it...**

 **Note; Callie seems a little OOC... sorry?**

 **As always, please review, favourite, or follow if you like it :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing at all... at ALLLLLLLL!**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **Chapter One**

She should be grateful. That's what they kept telling her. Grateful that her foster father had been willing to take her back. Grateful that she got to see her brother again. Grateful that they weren't getting split up. She got that, understood what they meant, really, she did. But to be _grateful_ to be back in that run down and neglected house, to be _grateful_ to be back in the care of a narcissistic asshole with a drinking problem, to be _grateful_ for the ignorance of the Foster Care System? Yeah, right.

With a sigh, she kicked at the dusty carpet, causing a stone that had been hiding on it to fly across the room, hitting the faded and peeling, paisley coloured wallpaper of the wall opposite.

"Callie!" Bill, her social worker, warned and shot her a look. She looked past him, at the large, brute of a man who he's been talking to, and gave him a tight-lipped, angry smile.

"Hi Jim."

"Callie." Bill repeated, in the same tone he'd previously employed with her.

"I was just saying 'hello'," She shrugged, feigning innocence, "What's wrong with that?"

She turned back to her foster father. "Hi Jim."

 _"Callie!"_ Bill said for the third time, his exasperation at the teen clear in his voice.

"Callie." Jim nodded.

"CALLIE!" The whirlwind that was her twelve year-old brother yelled as he rushed from the other room and hugged her tightly. "You're here!"

"Hey Bud!"

Just his presence caused her anger to melt right away and a genuine smile to take it's place. She loved how excited he was to see her again, how it mirrored her own, hidden joy at seeing him. Only Jude could do that, only Jude could calm her down, or make her be able to still cope with their situations, no matter how crappy they were. That was what had made being in Juvie so hard, not being able to see him, to check that he was okay, healthy and safe. To make sure he hadn't been hit since.

One look at his face and her smile disappeared. Large, ugly bruises trailed down the side of his face, along his jawline. Tenderly, she reached out and gently ran her fingers along them.

"You're hurt."

"So are you." Wanting to distract her, and eager to protect her in more than one way, Jude motioned to the bruises on _her_ face, along with her cut lip. "What happened?"

She shrugged again, "Just some girls at Juvie." She told him, "So what happened to you?"

He didn't say anything, looking down at his feet and she sighed. She already knew, they both did, but his silence only confirmed it.

Turning to her foster father, she glared at him, her hands clenched into fists.

"Wow, Jim," She drawled, "You're getting sloppy."

 _"Excuse me?!"_ He snarled, stepping closer to Callie so that they were almost nose-to-nose. "What did you say?"

Bill blanched at their socialisation, before looking down at his watch. It was late and he didn't have the time to intervene - so instead he decided to turn a blind eye. Jude stood frozen, in the corner, his dark brown eyes fixed on his sister as he clamped his hands onto his ears, preparing himself for the yelling that was sure to come.

"I said," Callie responded, refusing to seem scared in front of him as she worked hard to keep her voice steady and the tremble out of it. "That you're getting sloppy - most people know that if you're going to beat a kid to do it where the marks won't show."

"Callie!" Embarrassment coloured her social worker's voice, "I'm so sorry, Jim, I'm sure she didn't mean that."

The teen in question opened her mouth to say otherwise but quickly closed it upon the look Bill shot her - she knew her words would simply fall on deaf ears.

There was a moment of silence.

"Alright, well I'll, er, be off!" Bill faked a cheerful tone as he headed towards the front door, "Callie, Jude, give me a ring if there's a problem - and behave for Mr. Pearson here, okay? Bye!" And, with a nod at Jim, he quickly exited the house.

Once Bill had left, Jim turned and glared at Callie, "Fucking bitch," He snarled at her, "Who the fuck do you think you are, eh? You're nothing an' we all know that. So what if people can tell tell how your brother got his bruises? They don't care, not about you, not about 'im. The two of you aren't nothing but a couple of foster kids - which means that nobody gives two shits about you or your fucking faggot of a brother, got it?"

"Don't call him that!" She glanced over her shoulder to check that Jude had his ears covered, which he did. She hated it when people called him names, picking up on his differences and using them as a reason to hate him. "Don't fucking call him that!"

"DON'T FUCKING SWEAR AT ME, YOU LITTLE BITCH! SHOW ME A LITTLE FUCKING RESPECT!"

She laughed at that, at the ridiculous request and equally ridiculous notion. Big mistake.

 _"Fucking bitch!"_ He repeated, his eyes full of a mixture of hatred and disgust. Without warning he backhanded her across the face, the loud _crack!_ of flesh hitting flesh seeming to echo around the room as she fell to floor from the force of the hit.

Standing up, she dusted her jeans and glared at him. "Wow, I'm home, what, ten minutes and you're already hitting me? Yeah, you're right, _obviously_ I should totally respect you, make you my role model, even."

She knew it was silly to provoke him, but it was either that or cry. At least this way she was partly in control. She could handle being hurt, what she couldn't handle was upsetting Jude but, judging by the small whimper he let out and the worry in his eyes, she'd done just that. Fortunately for the two of them, Jim wasn't drunk enough to beat her until she apologised and showed some sign of 'respect'. Instead, he just cursed under his breath and made his way to the front door, pushing Callie with more force than necessary as he passed her.

"Fucking teenagers."

He left the house and within a minute the sound of an engine could be heard as he started the car and drove off. Callie knew where he was going - to the local pub where he'd drink until he was pissed beyond measure and stumble home in the early hours of the morning. When they'd first came to be in his care it had seen that way and obviously that hadn't changed during the months she'd been in Juvie for.

Turning, she went to comfort her brother, knowing he'd be upset. He stood there, tears rolling down his face, his thin body shaking ever so slightly. Sighing, she put out an arm and encased him into a one-armed hug, resting her chin on the top of his head,absent-mindedly rubbing the spot on her jaw where Jim had just hurt her, whilst comforting her brother.

 _She was meant to be grateful for this?_ Yeah right, no fucking chance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! So thanks for the follows, faves and reviews I got for the first chapter, they certainly reassures me about this story. So here's the second part, I've gotta say that it's not as long as the first one but that's not from trying - I found that if I tried to write more I ended up waffling and going off on a long boring tangent...**

 **I also feel it's important to let you know that it'll be a little while before they end up in the fosters care - this story is kinda a thriller one I think (?)...**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing! *sad whimper***

 **Updated 11/07/17**

Chapter Two

Jude was crying, she could hear him from across the room. Though it wasn't a new experience - Jude often ended up crying himself to sleep - it still made her feel sick, like she was the cause of his misery.

So she did what she always did - got off of the cheap camp bed that she was meant to sleep on and crossed the room, climbing into his bed and hugging him tightly, gently rubbing his back as he cried into her shoulder.

She'd been back at Pearson's house for two weeks now and there'd been some sort of argument each day. That day it had been regarding her school attendance - or more specifically the lack of such. She recalled how earlier at dinner - whilst stuffing mouthfuls of pasta into his round, sweaty face - Jim had yelled at her, causing mashed up pieces of his dinner to fly across the table.

"You ungrateful brat," He'd slurred, "What you didn't think I'd find out? That they wouldn't call? That you could pull one over me? Well you can't, you fucking can't. I don't need you here - that's for your own benefit, you understand me? You don't fucking skip school if you want to keep living here with your fucking brother- I don't need the hassle of both of you, one's enough, I get paid regardless."

She shouted in response and it quickly turned into an angry beating whilst Jude cowered, rooted in his seat as he silently waited for it to end.

She hated this, the life that they had. If she could, she'd leave this house, this life, and run away, never looking back, never regretting. But she couldn't. Because she doubted Jude would be okay.

Despite everything, he still had that child-like innocence, that naive view at the word. She couldn't take that from him, she just couldn't. And forcing him to live on the streets, to beg for food and money day in and day out, never knowing if they'd have a shelter for the night, or food in their bellies, she couldn't do that to him. Which meant that she had no choice but to grin and bear it, both the frequent beatings she received and the soft sobs of her twelve year old brother that she heard each night.

Not until she had a plan.

Not until she knew that she could keep him safe, happy and alive.

Because in the end, all she really cared about was Jude.

...

"Callie?" Her ears pricked at the sound of his voice and she looked down sharply at him.

"Yeah, Bud?"

"Did we do something wrong?"

She frowned at his question, recalling that day's events before considering her words carefully. "Well, I guess that I shouldn't have spoken to Jim like that , but you haven't -"

"No," Jude interrupted, shaking his head, "I don't mean just today, or just last week, or even just last year, I mean _further_ than that. Did we do something wrong? Are we bad people?"

Now she was the one to shake her head. "No, Bud, we're not. Why d'you ask?"

Jude shrugged. "A boy in my class said that bad things only really ever happen to bad people and lots of bad things happen to _us_ so I thought that that must mean..."

"That we're bad people?" Again, Callie shook her head. Moving her arm, she reached out and moved his overgrown fringe from his eyes. "No, Buddy, we're not bad people, we just have bad luck - _really_ bad luck, actually." She shrugged, trying to keep her tone light and humourous.

"Oh." Jude frowned again. "Well a girl in my class, Maisy, she said that if you break a mirror then you get seven years of bad luck and so far we've had six years of it, so does that mean that we only have one more year of it and then we'll happy and lucky and have a forever family?"

"Sure, Bud," Callie rolled her eyes, "Because six years ago you went on a mirror-smashing spree which is why we now end up in such fucked up situations!"

"There's no need to be sarcastic." Hurt coloured his words as he looked up at his sister with a wounded expression on his face. "I was just asking. Besides, _you're_ the one who smashed mom's mirror the day she -"

"Jude!" She glared at him, furious that he'd even _mentioned_ their mother let alone the day that she _died_. "Shut up. You're wrong and you don't have a clue what you're on about, okay? Those kids in your class are just that - _kids_ \- and you _don't_ take advice from a bunch of children who have no fucking clue what they're on about!"

Thy were silent for a minute, the only noise being Jude's quiet sniffs. Callie sighed as he shot her a look of sadness and rubbed the bridge of her nose, her anger evaporating. "We were unlucky before then, Bud," She softly informed him, "But we're not unlucky because of some smashed mirror somewhere - we're unlucky because that's who we are."

"Oh." Jude said again. "We're never going to be lucky are we? We're never going to get adopted."

Callie sighed. She'd already upset her brother and didn't want to do it again. Choosing not to answer his question, she rolled over, hugging him tightly. "Go to sleep Jude."

They didn't speak again for the rest of the night, but nor did they move away from each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey so this isn't particularly long (like really REALLY short) but hopefully it'll still be liked...**

 **Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites so far, they like seriously encourage me to continue writing this and to actually update more frequently :)**

 **So as always please favourite, follow and/or review :D**

 **DISCLAIMER: Yeah... No. I own nothing :'(**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER THREE**

The water was scalding hot, instantly turning her skin lobster red and blotchy, but she didn't notice. Instead, she remained numb to the heat, slowly sitting down in the tub and pulling her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly. Despite the heat from the bath, she was shaking.

They were fucked. There was no other way to put it, no other way that it could go. They were completely and utterly fucked and she had no idea how to fix it, no idea how to protect Jude and keep him safe, no idea how to avoid the inevitable. Because when it _did_ happen, she'd could forget about even ending up back in juvie, she doubted she even get that lucky. No, most likely she'd end up in prison, and Jude would be left alone, unprotected.

She couldn't let that happen, she wouldn't. So she refused to think about it, instead spending the day focusing on the task at hand and tidying up from the morning's events. Jude would be home soon and she still needed to finish her bath, to clean the kitchen floor and change her clothes.

And she still needed to work out what to do with the body.

The body of their foster father.

The body of Jim Pearson, a horrible drunk and complete arsehole.

The body of a dead man.

She knew that it was still slumped against the living room wall where she'd dragged it earlier, and could clearly picture it in her mind, the image refusing to leave; dried, slightly crusty blood was smeared across his face, with still-sticky but browning blood still attempting to trickle down his crown, and several shards of glass where still sticking out of his flesh.

It made her want to simultaneously throw up and throw a party.

Someone was _dead_ , no longer alive and barely ten feet away from her - a wall being the only thing that stopped her from being able to see him, right there, right then - and she was happy.

In fact, happy was an understatement. She was _ecstatic._ She couldn't help but smile, sure, they were fucked, but they were also free.

At least until somebody found out, but - and she wasn't sure if it was what she really wanted or just the rush of adrenaline she was feeling - she was willing to risk it.

Mind made up, she quickly washed the blood from her skin and stretched, before standing up and finally getting out of the now freezing water.

She had a body to hide and a new, hopefully better, life to start.

 _Well it can't really get any worse..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, so thanks for the favourites, reviews, and follows, they actually means a lot to me (sad, I know, but true). So here's the next part.**

 **Again, it's rather short (though longer than the previous chapter) but I think it's got a pretty cool ending *insert evil laugh here*...**

 **So please review, follow or favourite if you liked it :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: As gut-wrenching as it is to admit it, I don't own anything to do with The Fosters... *sigh***

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **Chapter Four**

It turned out that google had over 851,000 hits on how to dispose of a dead body. However, after browsing through the first three and a half pages, she came to the conclusion that burning it would be best. As several websites pointed out, it could destroy any DNA evidence, leave no fingerprints and anything that remained could be easily disposed or buried in a smaller hole.

That in mind, she tried to format a proper plan, knowing full well that Jude would need to be out of the house when she did it - there was no need to worry him or burden him with keeping it a secret - though that meant she'd have to find somewhere else to store it in the mean time. She also needed to think up a good, and convincing, lie to tell people on the off-chance someone actually began asking questions regarding Jim and where he was. Fortunately, she was good at lying.

By the time that she needed to collect Jude from school, she had formed a plan. She would stop going to _her_ school and get a job, therefore generating an income for the two of them. If needs be then she'd lie about her age.

She also decided that if anyone asked then she'd just say that he'd gone. If she removed several items from his wardrobe, hid his passport and withdrew cash from him card, then there would be no need for anyone to doubt the story as it'd seem quite plausible. The only worry was what would happen if it got back to CPS that their current guardian was no longer looking after them - if social services got involved there was a large probability that they'd attempt to place Callie and Jude somewhere else, though hopefully by then she'd have earned enough money for her to find somewhere else to live and take Jude with her.

It was a rather conditional plan, but it was better than not having one at all.

...

As she went to leave the house, she caught sight of her reflection and stopped. Rather than look casual and as though it was any other day like she'd hoped, she looked the opposite. Her face was bright pink and blotchy - the resultant mixture of scrubbing her skin too hard earlier when she'd been in the bath and the uncontrollable sobbing fits she'd broken out in numerous times throughout the day when she thought too much about what had happened and what it meant - whilst her hair hung in damp, raggedly strands. But what scared her most - what made her stop in her tracks and just _stare_ \- was her eyes. They were unnerving, dark and wild-looking... _feral_. She looked like a wild animal.

But, considering the day that she'd had, she wasn't surprised.

Callie sighed. She'd wanted to pick Jude up from school - a simple action that would have given her an excuse to keep her brother nearby... _whilst she could._ But she couldn't go out looking how she did, she'd definitely attract attention and someone would end up asking questions, causing the entire plan she'd made to fail before it'd even properly begun.

 _Which was kind of a fucking pain._

Jude would just have to walk. He already knew wait for half and hour, giving Callie sufficient time to get there, before making his own way home if she didn't turn up and that meant that she'd have enough time to find somewhere to hide the body before Jude saw it. Because if he saw it then everything would shatter and nothing would be able to console him. He'd know what it's mean and knowing that would cause him to loose his remaining innocence, and she couldn't let that happen.

Because if it did then she'd be pissed. Hadn't she already decided that keeping her brother's naivety was the only reason that she didn't pack up all of their things and run off with him?! She'd thought that keeping off of the streets and with a roof over his head was how she'd keep him safe and now there was a chance that it wouldn't. _Her life was a fucking joke sometimes._

She let out an angry sigh and ran a hand through her hair, her other hand going up so that her fingers briefly brushed against the bridge of her nose. Getting to work, she grabbed Jim's body by the legs and pulled, slowly but surely dragging the body across the room and out of the back door. She winced at the dull ' _thwack!'_ his head made each time that it made contact with the two small steps leading off of the porch and into the small backyard.

There, she went over to the small shed and yanked open the door. She knew that Jude wouldn't go back there - because of it's rotting exterior, she'd banned him from going _near_ it when they'd first arrived at the house. Satisfied that, for at least the time being, it'd be fine there, she wiped her hands on the front of her jeans before letting out a large sigh of relief.

 _But of course, she couldn't actually be that fucking lucky._

"Holy shit! I should probably call the police, right?"


	5. Chapter 5

**So thanks for the favourite, follows and review, to those who did so :)**

 **I've gotta be honest, for the guy in this (Toby), I kinda like ended up making him on the Sims in order to work out what he looked like (and what his name should be)... So yeah.**

 **Anyhow, hopefully this chapter will be well liked and yeah...**

 **Please favourite, follow or review if you like it :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything to do with the Fosters *sniffs* :'(**

 **NOTE: This chapter included stuff on disposing of a body, OBVIOUSLY, don't kill people and if you do... don't use the advice from here - I am in NO way telling people/giving instructions on how to get away with killing people, nor am I encouraging that? Okay? Good. Yeah, that's all...**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER FIVE**

Callie sprung to her feet, her eyes widening in alarm as she turned to the owner of the voice. A boy, who looked to be around her age - maybe a year or so older - was grinning at her from over the rickety fence that separated her house from the next.

"Fucking hell!" She yelled and glared at him, "Don't just appear - announce yourself next time!"

The boy rolled his hazel-coloured eyes, "I wold have," He told her, "But then I realised that you were _dragging_ a _body_ and I didn't want to be next - I _still_ don't."

He laughed when she continued to glare at him.

"Jeez, lighten up! I was just kidding!" He smirked at her, before leaning over the fence and extending his arm. "My name's Tobias, Tobias Gibbs, though most people just call me Toby." When she didn't move to shake his hand, he withdrew it, still grinning. "I live next door." He added.

"Yeah I kind of figured out that much," She rolled her eyes, "I didn't think you hung out in random gardens. Besides, I've seen you around."

"Huh," He nodded his head, his expression thoughtful, "Good to know. You know, just for the record, I think that I might have seen you around too - I never caught your name though..."

Callie raised an eyebrow, "Is that a question?"

Toby grinned, "If it was, would you have even answered it?" He quickly retorted.

She shrugged but didn't say anything.

They stood in a mutual silence, neither one finding it awkward, both waiting for the other to talk, but neither one of them wanting to be the one to.

"Callie!"

She turned at the sound of Jude's voice, not expecting him to be back yet due to having lost track of how much time had passed.

She glanced at Toby before looking at the house again, and sighing. "Yeah, Jude, I'm out here! I'll just be a minute - stay inside, please!"

Turning back to Toby, she found him grinning at her.

"So your name's Callie, huh? You're one of Jim Pearson's foster kids, right?"

She rolled her eyes again, "Well duh!" She replied, a slight trace of annoyance in her voice, "I don't exactly go around answering to other people's names, and I don't hang around in other people's back yards, either."

"No, you don't," Toby raised an eyebrow, "Instead you just kill your foster father and hid his body in his own shed!"

"What? No, I didn't -" She stopped, mid-sentence, and shook her head, whilst fidgeting slightly due to her growing agitation. "Look, my twelve year-old brother is inside and he doesn't know about... about this-" Here she gestured at the shed, "-so I'd kind of appreciate if it stays that way, okay? And you don't even have all your facts right - and even if you did, there's be a reason. John wasn't exactly about to win an award for being the nicest guy ever."

"Jeez, chill out!" Toby raised his hand in mock-surrender, "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell - your little brother _or_ the police. To be honest, I kind of think it's cool - I mean in a _what-the-fuck-that's-totally-messed-up_ kind of a way."

"Good. That's... good, I guess." She shrugged.

"Yeah..." Toby agreed, nodding his head, "So what's up with that anyway?"

Callie frowned. "With what?" She asked, "With the body?"

"Nah, I don't really care about that - I'm not deaf and it was kind of hard _not_ to hear the yelling after he'd been drinking... No, I mean the whole little-brother thing - you treat that boy as though he's your own kid."

Callie shrugged again. "I don't know," She said, "I guess because we've only really got each other it means I kind of have to - I don't want any of the jerks who foster us to end up being his role model, and I know that if I look after him then he'll actually know that there's someone who loves him, y'know, that not everybody in the world is a gigantic arsehole."

"Well I guess that's fair enough." Toby nodded, before changing the subject. "So what's the plan anyway? What are you going to do with the body?"

Callie frowned slightly, "Well, I was going to tell people that he'd just taken off if anyone asked - I've already hidden his passport and some of his clothes - and then I was going to burn the body and bury anything that remains."

"Well that's stupid."

She glared at him, her hands curling into fists, "Well if you have a _better_ idea...?" She challenged.

Toby smirked, "I do, _actually_. Bury the body - the whole thing. So long as the hole is deep enough it's unlikely to be found any time soon - but if you _really_ want to make sure that they can't identify it then you should probably remove his teeth and fingers...""

"You mean..." Callie trailed off, pulling a face, disgusted by what he was suggesting.

"Yup," He grinned again, "Chop, chop!"

She shook her head, "No way! I'm not doing that! I just... _won't!"_

"Even if that stops you from being caught - from being arrested and separated from your brother?!"

She glared at him, furious at him for using Jude against her and at herself for giving him that leverage.

He shrugged, "Well if you're sure..."

"Isn't there something else we can do?" She hated how pathetic she sounded, how desperate.

He sighed, "Well, if you're set on burning the body then I know a good place. No one ever goes there so it's out of the way and there won't be any questions about the colour f the smoke or the stench. That sound good? I can't take you there today, but I can at the weekend - that's only three days, so it sound be okay to then, right?"

She nodded. "Okay, sounds good." She turned to go, but paused. Turning back to face him, she frowned. "Why are you helping?" She asked, her tone curious. "I mean, you don't even know me."

"I don't know," Toby shrugged, "I guess that seeing as I've already became an accomplice just by turning a blind eye, then I might as well be an actual help, you know?"

He shot her a small smile which, to him surprise, she returned.

"I've got to go and check on Jude," Callie said, checking her watch, "So I guess that that means that I'll see you later?"

"Sure," He winked at her, "See you later, Foster-Killer.

Before she could respond - most likely with a few choice words - he chuckled and headed back to his house, leaving her standing her head, she too headed back inside, glad to have made a friend - or at least a partner in crime - from all that had happened.

 _Maybe it'd actually work out after all..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, so thank you so, so, sooooo much for the reviews, favourites and follows, considering the chapter before that only got one review, I wan't sure if anyone liked this story, so it's nice to know that some people do! :)**

 **Again, please follow, review and/or favourite if you like it :D**

 **Also, for anyone who reads this and enjoys a little bit of irony, whilst writing this chapter one song that I listened to was called 'Live Forever'...**

 **ALSO: Please note that this chapter also has stuff to do with hiding a dead body and so if, I don't know, you can't deal with that kind of thing then it may not be the best thing for you. I mean, I didn't think that I'd written that much in detail, but I'm pretty sure that this is the longest chapter so far _and_ last time that I didn't think that I'd written something in much detail it turned out that I had... pulling out someone's tongue has never been so graphical :/ (I exaggerate but you get the point, right?)**

 **Oh, and, again, please don't actually use this to get rid of a body. Aside from the fact that this is just a guess and I'm not even that sure how feasible it even is, it's just not a good idea, you know?**

 **Any how, yeah... ON WITH THE STORY!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. At all. (Also, please don't hold me responsible on the off-chance this would actually work and someone somewhere gets away with murder.)**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER SIX**

She should have sucked it up, done what Toby had suggested and chopped off his fingers.

She should have made sure that the story was a hundred percent believable.

She should have checked - _really_ checked that there was no evidence that could point to her.

And she should have run the moment that Jim's heart stopped beating.

Because _now_ she was stuck, _now_ she was _really_ in trouble. _Now_ the police were involved and pulling up outside her house.

She'd been an idiot. She'd thought that they were in the clear. It'd been a week, an _entire_ week, and there'd been barely any questions asked. She'd let her guard down, something that should have gone against every single instinct she had. But she hadn't even thought about it, about how there hadn't even been a hiccup since disposing of the body that night.

Hell, she'd been smiling for the entire week. Smiling as she filled out a job application for a role as a barista at a local cafe, smiling she bought groceries from the money she'd withdrawn from Jim's account, smiling as she realised that for the first time since she'd been there, the fridge was completely full, smiling as she decided purely on impulse to treat Jude to a new pair of pyjamas - later, she reasoned with herself that he needed them, his old pair where rather ratty - and herself to a new book. Everything had been fine - _fantastic_ even - since they'd gotten rid of the body.

 **...One week earlier...**

 _She'd told Jude the same as what she was going to tell everyone else - that by the time she'd came home from dropping him off at school, their foster father had gone, and with him his belongings._

 _He looked at her, a small frown appearing on his face as he tilted his head slightly to the side. "Then why is his car still in the driveway?"_

 _She froze, her hand hovering mid-air, still holding the spoon that she'd been using to serve their dinner._

That car! That stupid car! There was no way that he'd have left without it!

 _"Callie?" Jude looked at her expectantly and she shot him a quick smile._

 _"What? Oh I guess that it wasn't as important to him as we thought." She shrugged, silently hoping her tone sounded casual,_ normal. _"Do you want beans or peas?"_

 _Jude frowned at the obvious subject change but didn't say anything. They ate their dinner in silence._

 _..._

 _That night she was woken up by a persistent tapping at her window. Glancing at Jude, she was relieved to find him fast asleep. Sometimes she was_ really _glad that that kid could sleep through anything. Drawing back the curtains, she found the reason for the noise. Toby stood outside the window, rapping on the window_ _pane with one hand, whilst his other one held a large industrial torch. He was wearing all black, excluding the orange head torch that he had around his head, and the dark-green backpack that was slung over a single shoulder._

 _He motioned for her to open the window and she did so cautiously, checking that Jude was still asleep before doing so._

 _"What-?" She began, only to be silenced as he motioned for her to stop speaking._

 _"Change of plans," He informed her, his voice almost a whisper, "We're getting rid of the body tonight."_

 _..._

 _At her suggestion, they drove Jim's car instead of Toby's. Whilst she wasn't too concerned about anyone finding any of her hair in it - she_ did _live with the guy - she agreed to wear the black leather gloves that Toby had with him in order to conceal their fingerprints._

 _After about fifty minutes of driving, Toby stopped, pulling up outside an old, abandoned the warehouse. He turned to her, his face serious for once, "You know the plan, right?"_

 _She nodded, swallowing nervously, "Yeah."_

 _They both got out of the car and made their way to its boot. Opening it, Callie stared at her foster father's body. Despite not even being dead for that long, it was already starting to smell and his skin had taken on a slightly blue hue._

 _It made her want to throw up._

 _Instead, she closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten. Once she'd reached one, she reopened them and took a deep breath._

 _"Okay," She muttered, "Let's do this."_

 _She grabbed his feet whilst Toby grabbed him from under the arms, and together they lifted him from the car and carried him into the building._ _Once in there, they placed him, slumped, by an old crate, trying to make it look as though he was leaning on it._

 _Then, they returned to the car, grabbing the two six-packs that they'd bought on the way and stored under the passenger seat, as well as the back-pack that Toby had been previously wearing. Heading back inside, Toby wasted no time in opening the first pack and cracking open two cans - taking a long sip from one and splashing the other over the floor and around the body. Once it was empty, he chucked it onto the floor and opened the next one, every now and then taking sips from his own can as he systematically emptied the other five._

 _"What?" He frowned at Callie, who was silently watching him, one eyebrow raised, "We agreed to do this."_

 _"I know." She shrugged, "But should you_ really _be drinking from one of them? I mean, isn't there DNA stuff that can prove -?"_

 _"What, that I've drank beer here before?" He smirked at her, "How exactly do you_ think _that I found this place, Foster-Killer? Besides, loads of people use this place as a drinking grounds, so relax. The police won't be able to prove anything."_

 _She raised an eyebrow skeptically, but didn't say anything, instead opening the other pack and silently emptying each can from it, splashing part of the beer onto the body in order to make sure that it would definitely be burnt._

 _They worked in silence until only two cans were left. Without a word, Toby put them into his back pack, ignoring Callie's questioning gaze, and took out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Pulling one out, he rolled it up and lit it, handing it to Callie before putting the packet and lighter into Jim's trouser pocket. Rather than smoke it, she watched it burn for a moment, before dropping it to the ground. Instantly, flames leapt from the ground as the fire made contact with the alcohol._

 _Callie stood still, mesmerised by the dancing flames._

 _"RUN!" Toby shoved her, forcing her to look aways and reminding her to move. She coughed, choking on the thick black smoke and overpowering stench as the body began to burn. It was getting harder to breathe - and harder to see as her vision pulsed in and out of focus._

Maybe the fire hadn't been such a good idea. Had they even made a path or was the fire just _everywhere_? Would she even _get_ to the exit?

 _"Come on!" A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her, urging her to hurry._

 _Toby led the way, and neither one stopped running until they were away from it, away from the burning building and safely around the corner. Only then did she slow down, coming to a halt and bending forwards as she tried to catch her breathe. Once it was almost back to normal, she looked up and grinned at him, her eyes wide and her face flushed from excitement._

 _"Wow."_

 _"Yeah." He returned the grin, the same excitement echoing in his own eyes._

 _"Just..wow!" High on adrenaline, she couldn't stop beaming._

She'd just burnt a body and she was fucking smiling about it. How fucked up was she?!

 _"Phew!" Letting out a deep sigh, Toby stretched, standing tall, "Well we better crack on," He told her, "Otherwise we might end up missing the bus."_

 _"Bus?" She frowned at him, "What about the car?"_

 _He shrugged, "The passport's in it, right?"_

 _"Yeah," She nodded, "In the glovebox, and his suitcase is in the back."_

 _"Good." He nodded, a note of approval in his voice, "With any luck, the fire will end up spreading to the car and once that goes up...Well identifying the crispy body could be difficult!"_

 _She let out a dry, humourless laugh. "_ If _we're lucky. You_ do _realise that I am about as lucky as roadkill, right?"_

 _"Well, we got this far, right?" Unfazed, Toby shot her a small, genuine smile, unlike his usual smirk, "So maybe your luck's turning."_

 _Before she could say anything to disagree, he'd gone to his backpack and was pulling out the two remaining cans of beer, cracking one open and handing it to her._

 _"To a lucky change." He toasted, cracking his own can open and gently bumping it against hers._

 _Despite herself, Callie smiled, "To a lucky change." She repeated._

 **...Present..**

A Knock at the door pulled her back to the present. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the door, revealing two cops; one a serious-looking man with greying black hair and traces of stubble shadowing his face, and the other a blonde haired woman with kind looking eyes but a stern expression on her face.

"Callie Jacobs?" The woman asked, and when Callie nodded she gave her a grim smile. "Good, my name is Stef and this here is Mike-" Here she gestured at the man beside her, "-We need to talk to you about your foster father."

 _Fuck._

 **.**

 **.**

 **...Note:...**

 **So after writing this, I realised that beer isn't really that flammable, however, I'm keeping it as it is as it just seems more likely that the police would be less suspicious of lots of beer cans near a fire than several empty bottles of vodka. Also, I'm thinking about changing the summary for this story, but don't exactly know what to write without giving anything away, considering what you've read so far, if anyone has an idea, please feel free to PM me :)**

 **ALSO, I'd very much like to know what people think of Toby. In all honesty, I kinda hate him, but at the same time... I dunno...**

 **So yeah. Thanks and again, please review, favourite and/or follow if you liked it :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**So thankyouthankyouTHAAAAAANNNNKKKKYOOOOOUUUU! for the reviews, favourites and follows, I'm really glad that you guys like it :)**

 **Also, one review-er (NinaJoFoster) asked about how the foster father died as it was a little confusing... I told her, but I didn't realise that that was the case, so if you guys want to know what happened, then I'll make sure to actually make it clear how he died in one of the next chapters - that said there will still be a slight element of surprise as there is going to be a sort-of-maybe twist (which now that I've said that you can probably guess -.- ) - so please, let me know.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is short... sorry. Hopefully you guys will still like it, so please follow, favourite or review if you do :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own about as much as everyone else on this site... sadly nothing... :'(**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER SEVEN**

She stood there, eyes wide, heart beating furiously, as the woman continued to speak. Well, at least Callie _assumed_ that the cop was talking - though she could see her mouth moving, she found herself unable to hear anything that was spoken, as though her ears had lined themselves with lead.

"Callie?"

Just like that, the one person who could always get through to her spoke. She turned around to see Jude standing in the hallway, his expression anxious, as he stared at his older sister.

"What's happening?" He looked nervously from her to the two cops and back again. "You're not going to take my sister again, are you?"

Callie watched in silent amazement as both adults' expressions softened as their eyes became full of sympathy for the young boy as he pleaded on his sister's behalf.

"No, Sweets," the female cop gently responded, "We just wanted to ask Callie about when your foster father would be home - we need him to come with us to the station for a... talk."

Callie let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding at those words, allowing her body to sag with relief.

 _They weren't there to arrest her. In fact, they had no idea that he was dead._

Jude frowned. "Really?" He asked, "That's all?" Although his direction was directed at the woman, he kept his eyes firmly trained on his sister.

"Should there be anything else?" The female cop raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course. He's just worried because I, er, juvie..." Forcing herself to smile, Callie shrugged sheepishly, trying to appear shamefaced about admitting to her previous stint in a juvenile detention centre, before turning to her brother. "Yeah, Bud, that's all."

She turned back to the police officers. "I'm sorry," She told them, "But he's out at the moment. I can get him to go to the station when he returns, though."

"How long do you think he'll be?" The male cop asked, speaking for the first time since she'd opened the door.

To her credit, Callie managed to hide the extent of her alarm pretty well, her eyes only becoming a fraction wider and her breathing rate only increasing by a small amount, remaining unnoticeable to the untrained eye.

 _Shit! What would happen when they realised that he won't be coming back? How long would it be before they would be back, knocking at the door, this time for her arrest?_

"I...er... I don't know." She gave him a half-hearted shrug, "It's going to be late, though. He said that he was going to pick up some groceries, but he also had a lot of other tasks to sort out, so it'll be a while... " She shrugged again.

The man grunted in response, obviously annoyed by her vague answer, whilst the woman frowned thoughtfully, but didn't ask any other questions.

"Well here's my card," She handed a small rectangular slip to Callie, the name ' _Officer Stefanie Foster'_ was written on it, along with a telephone number and email address, "Let us know when he gets back, and if it's not too late then we'll see him tonight, if not, first thing in the morning, okay?"

Callie, reluctantly, nodded. "Sure."

"Good," The woman smiled at her, "Well, it's been nice to meet you, Callie, have a good evening now."

Callie responded with a small smile, before shutting the door and slumping onto the floor, leaning back onto it as she closed her eyes and sighed loudly.

"How did she know your name?"

Her eyes shot open as she remembered that her brother was still standing there.

"Huh?"

"Your name." Jude repeated, "She called you Callie, how did they know what you were called?"

"I don't know, Bud, but I don't think it - _Oh God!_ " She cut herself off, her eyes widening almost comically as she realised what Jude meant, why it was so important.

 _They'd known her name since the beginning, was it just by asking around, or had they found her in their system? And if they had, then what else did they know about her?_

 **...**

Stefanie 'Stef' Foster got into the passenger's seat of the police vehicle they's driven up in and sighed as she stared out of the window and at the house that she'd just visited with Mike.

They'd gone there wanting to talk to Jim Pearson, and had ended up leaving knowing one thing - that he wasn't there at the moment. What they didn't know was what he was doing, or even _when_ he'd be back - the latter being a detail that the girl she'd spoken too had been very reluctant to say.

Thinking about the dark haired, brown eyed, teen girl made her sigh again. If there was one thing that being on the force for fifteen years had taught her, it was when someone was being evasive in order, or telling a small white lie, simply avoiding answering the question or, if they _had_ to answer it talking about a mundane, but plausible task - such as being out grocery shopping. She rarely believed them, and now was no different. That girl had been lying, and why, she didn't know. As a result, finding out could prove to be difficult.

Fortunately, if there was one thing that Stef liked, it was a challenge.


	8. Chapter 8

**So WOW, thanks for the reviews, favourites and follows! :)**

 **So here's the next chapter. It's mainly a flashback one but... well, you'll see. I hope you guys like it and if you do please don't hesitate to follow, favourite and review! :D**

 **NOTE:** **So I'm not sure if this is necessary, but there's kind of child abuse in this chapter... so just a warning...**

 **DISCLAIMER:** **I own not the Fosters, nor anything to do with it.**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER EIGHT**

 _"Fucking bitch, who the hell do you think you fucking are?!"_

 _Jim Pearson was more than just angry,he was absolutely bloody livid. His face had turned a violent shade of magenta and his pupils had contracted as he became enthralled with rage._

 _"Well, I'm pretty sure - though there's always the chance that I'm wrong - that I'm Callie Jacob. That said, you should probably already know that - you know, seeing as you're fostering me and are currently my legal guardian."_

 _She knew that she shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have_ tried _to provoke, but it was either that or cry, and Callie Quinn Jacob did not cry, no matter what. That said, she knew acting as the smartass was most likely a decision she'd later regret._

 _She rubbed her still-stinging jaw, inwardly wincing as she remembered which earlier drunken swing had caused it._

 _"FUCKING BITCH!" Jim's yell violently tore her away from her thoughts as he made to grab her, only to stumble slightly due to a lack of co-ordination caused by the alcohol he'd drunk._

 _Darting away from him, she smirked, for once actually pleased he'd been drinking._

 _"You know, considering your usual, below-average levels of intelligence, you might want to lay off the alcohol - it kills brain calls and you_ clearly _need all the ones you've still got."_

 _He glowered at her, the look in his eyes going past fury to something further, something far more dangerous - pure, unconditional hatred. As he slowly moved forwards toward her, his hands curling into huge fists and his expression menacing, she knew that she'd gone too far. And, quite suddenly, she was absolutely fucking terrified, frozen to the spot as he made his way over to her, barely stumbling as his detestation for her quickly sobering him up._

 _She couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't hide. Instead, she could only wait, wait and see what happened._

 _She realised that she didn't know where Jude was - was he in their bedroom, still getting ready for school, or was he now in the kitchen, eating a bowl of soggy cereal as quickly as he could so that the minute this fight had stopped she could take him to school? Either way, it didn't really matter, not really. He'd be able to hear them no matter where he was in the house._

 _She felt guilty about that, she really did. She_ knew _how much her brother hated the yelling, hated the fighting, hated hearing his sister getting the crap beaten out of her on a daily basis, but still, she provoked him, with snide remarks and less-than-subtle eye rolls. Which meant that it was always really her fault. Because of_ her, _their foster father got cross, because of_ her _she'd end up getting hurt, and_ _because of_ her, _Jude ended up getting scared. So really, it was all her fault._

 _But she wouldn't change it, wouldn't stop behaving the way she did. Because, so long as she was the one getting hurt, Jude was fine. He was safe, and that's all she ever wanted._

 _A heavy punch in the stomach threw her from her thoughts and caused her to double up in pain._

 _"BITCH! YOU FUCKING LITTLE_ BITCH _! DON'T FUCKING SMART TALK ME, YOU LITTLE WHORE_ _!"_

 _He punched her again, and again, waiting for her to fall to the ground before kicking her hard in the ribs._

 _Black spots danced across her vision as the air was expelled from her lungs, but she shook her head, drawing a deep, ragged breath as she desperately tried to ignore the pain. He kicked her twice more, each with more force than the previous, before grabbing her by the hair and slamming her against the wall. Whilst one hand held her hair, keeping her in place, the other wrapped itself around her neck, pushing down on her windpipe._

 _She choked, wheezing slightly, as she tried to breathe, tried to scream, tried to_ beg _for him to stop. But she couldn't. Weakly, she tried to push him away, and, when that failed, she attempted to find something - anything - to use in order to force him to let go. Her fingers found the neck of a vase. Slowly, she tried to lift it, hoping that he wouldn't notice, hoping that it'd work._

 _There was a noise, the loud '_ smack!' _of a hard, solid object hitting something... less so._

 _Jim Pearson stumbled back, loosening his hold on her and allowing her to escape._

 _He tripped over the edge of the sofa as he tried to see what had hit him, and stumbled forward, bumping into the old oak drawer that stood by the wall opposite to where she was still standing, panting slightly. He stumbled again, falling this time, and as he did so his arms flailed wildly until one caught the edge of the drawer. He tried to pull himself up using it, but failed, instead tipping the piece of furniture over, causing it, and all the items on top, to fall onto him. Unable to stop herself, she winced as one by one the photo frames that had covered the top of it slid off and onto his head, each one smashing and causing shards of glass to fly._

 _He didn't move again._

 _Then again, how could he?_

 _Jim Pearson was well and truly dead._

 **...**

She sat up in bed, panting slightly and so drenched in sweat that her sheets stuck to her like an extra layer of skin. She put both hands to her neck, tracing the dark purple bruising that she knew was still there as she tried to calm her racing heart.

She was okay. She was _alive_. Everything was okay - or at least it was for now, though it was only a matter of time before the police _really_ started asking questions. She knew that once that happened, nothing would be the same, neither Jude or herself would be safe. But she also knew the one way that she could keep them safe, the one way that Jude would be protected - or at the very least looked after - for the time being at least.

With a quick glance at her brother's sleeping form, she quietly left her bed and snuck into the kitchen. There, she grabbed the home telephone, tightly gripping its cracked plastic casing with her cold, clammy hands as she took a deep breath before dialing.

...

The station was quiet, it was after all three in the morning and had fortunately, been a quiet night. The phone rang, once, twice. It was on the third ring that the tired operator picked up. Forcing her voice to sound friendly and welcoming, she cleared her throat.

" _911, please state your emergency?"_

"Yes, um," The caller took a deep breath, trying to stop their voice from shaking before attempting to speak once more. "Yes, I'd like to report a missing person."

 **...**

 **Hey, so as I said at the beginning, please review, favourite and follow. Also, I kind of what your opinions. Should they both go to the Fosters together (as a foster placement), or should it only be Jude, and Callie ends up going to a different home (only for a while though as they'll both end up living with the Fosters together at some point)? OR they both go to a different placement first ad THEN to the Fosters?**

 **I'm going to make a poll with those options, so please vote, or alternatively PM me and tell me what you want. Okay? Thanks! XD**


	9. Chapter 9

**So here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows - it's nice to know people like this story and want more (which makes me write more sooner XD )!**

 **Any how, so the majority of you seemed to want them to go straight to the Fosters, so that's what's going to happen. Thank youo to everyone who voted/made their opinions clear, it helps... a lot :D**

 **As usual, please review, follow and favourite if you like this story, or PM me with any suggestions/to let me know how you want this story to go. I have a sort-of idea, but the story isn't completely clear-cut - I know how it's going to end but not completely how it'll get there...**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing... I'll own it when I can trade a pink panda called Jim for it... but for now I don't (mainly because all the pink pandas I meet are called Susan...)**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER NINE**

She woke up to incessant knocking at the front door. Getting up slowly, she made her way to the door, and no sooner had she opened it, that a rather angry looking Toby stormed inside, slamming the door behind him before turning to glare at her.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your goddamn mind?!" He all but yelled.

"What?" She frowned, confused and sleep-deprived, unsure what was happening or why he was so cross, "What are you on about?"

"THE POLICE! The _fucking_ police that visited my house this morning in order to ask _my mom_ when the last time _your_ foster father had been seen! Apparently, _someone_ reported him missing last night and now they've got a _warrant_ for him due to _child neglect!"_

 _"Oh."_ There was little more that she could say, little more _to_ say.

"Oh? OH?!" Apparently that wasn't good enough, "That's all you have to say? You _fucking_ well go and get the police involved - something that we definitely _don't_ want - and all you can say about it is 'Oh'?! Fucking hell, Callie, _fucking hell_!"

"That's not fair!" She glared at him, suddenly angry, "You didn't have to bloody well get involved, you _chose_ to, I _didn't!_ And telling the police that he's ran off isn't a fucking terrible idea - they were at my doorstep yesterday, _remember?!_ Telling them that he's done a runner just means that we don't know where he is. I guarantee that what I've done will be worse for me and Jude than for you - who knows who we'll be put with now, or even if we'll be _together!_ Don't _fucking_ yell at me, what I did affects _me_ more than _you_ , so I'll do _whatever_ I think is right, _whenever_ I do, _okay?_!"

He snorted loudly at that. "And with that kind of logic it's no wonder that we ended up with this problem, is there?"

"Get out." Her words were quiet, but the warning underneath them was clear, he'd overstepped the line.

"What?" This time his voice was calmer as he frowned at the girl in front of him.

"I said get out." She glared at him, her voice deadly, "Who are you to barge in here, accusing - no, _yelling_ \- at me for something I had no clue about?!"

"What? Bullshit, you just said -"

"I said that I could understand _why_ I might call the police, not that I _had._ _You're_ the only one who said _that,_ and what _I_ said was for _you to get the fuck out of my house."_

He snorted again, but didn't say anything, wordlessly leaving the house without so much as a backwards glance at her. She watched him go, silently fuming, before sitting down in the hallway, back against the wall, and burying her head into her hands.

"What's going on? Who was that boy and why was he talking about the police?"

Her head shot up. Jude was standing by the kitchen doorway, staring silently at her.

"No one." She shot him the same small smile she did every time she felt the need to reassure him that things were okay. "No one important, anyway. It doesn't matter, okay?"

Her brother didn't say anything, instead giving her a flat look, conveying his skepticism.

"Honestly, Bud." She smiled at him again, "Have you packed? Bill will be here soon."

He silently pointed to their bedroom doorway, where his small skippy rucksack could be seen.

"Okay." She nodded, "We'll be fine, Bud, I promise."

Jude shrugged. "I still don't get why you told. You told me that nobody needed to know, so why would you tell the police? Why?" She bit her lip, pangs of guilt hitting her as tears rolled down his cheeks. She knew he must be confused. She had, after all, woken him up in the middle of the night and told him they were getting a new placement without giving him any sort of explanation.

"It was the right thing to do, trust me." At the back of her mind, she was beginning to wonder if she said it enough times whether she'd actually start believing what she was saying. She doubted it.

"I do." Now it was _his_ turn to reassure _her_. "I _always_ do."

 **...**

Lena Adams sighed as she tried her partner's phone for the umpteenth time, hanging up impatiently at the sound of her voicemail.

 _Come on Stef, pick up - you promised that you'd be here on time!_

Sighing again, she looked around the sitting room, her eyes critical as they swept by everything, making sure that everything was in place. Despite the fact that she and Stef often talked about how much they missed their kids being younger, Lena was glad they'd gotten past the leaving-toys-out and sticky-jam-hands stages - though it had still taken her well over two hours to clean her house to an immaculate condition. And today it was important that she kept it tidy - after all, she wanted to make a good first impression.

A good first impression on the guests that were going to be staying with them.

A good first impression on the two children they were going to be fostering.

A good first impression on the first people they'd fostered since they'd adopted Mariana and Jesus.

The doorbell rang. Stef had her own keys, unless she'd forgotten them then it meant it wasn't her. Which meant that they'd arrived.

Nervously, she opened the door. Bill stood there, a tight smile on his face desperately trying to deflect the waves of hostility coming of the two children that he had with him. Or rather, the waves of hostility rolling off of the brown haired teen girl who was now glaring furiously at her, her arm protectively in front of her brother. Her brother, for his part, shot her a small smile before averting his eyes and staring intently at his scruffy worn-out shoes.

"Bill. Hi."

"Lena." Bill's smile warmed slightly and he put out his hand, which she shook. "Lena, this is Callie and this is Jude. As we discussed on the phone, they're brother and sister and if you can't take them, we'll have to split them up - which obviously we _don't_ want. Now Callie is fifteen and Jude is twelve. I can give you their files tomorrow, though you'll probably realise pretty quickly that both have poor school work - academically speaking Jude works nowhere near his age group when it comes to maths and Callie has been known to skive However, that's one of the reasons we thought of you -being a teacher it means that you can-"

"Wait, you're a teacher?" Lena's head snapped round to the girl, Callie, as she spoke. Her voice was sharp, the caution clear in it.

Lena gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yes, I am."

Bill frowned slightly, "Callie, what did I say about interrupting?"

"I don't know, I wasn't really listening." The girl shrugged, "And even if I was, I'm not some little kid -I don't need to be told about interrupting, or any other _bullshit_ that adults tell children, y'know?"

Lena winced at the choice of words that the girl had used, but decided against saying anything about it. Instead, she shot the girl another smile - this one much more tight-lipped and unimpressed - before turning back to Bill.

"Any way, as I was saying," With a side glance at Callie he continued, "With you being a teacher I thought you would be able to help them achieve their potential. Also, it's been suggested that they - well, Callie in particular - would benefit from female-only parental figures, she's had a little trouble with male authority figures as of late and, if Jude hadn't still been with their previous foster father, we'd have sent her to you earlier. So, what do you say?"

Lena shifted slightly. She knew that she should wait for Stef, but at the same time they'd already discussed it. Sure, the girl, Callie, didn't seem like the nicest person to be around, but if there was one thing that Lena strongly believed in then it was that everyone deserved a chance, and -if not for the teenage girl -then her brother, Jude, seemed like a nice enough boy, just unlucky.

She nodded. "Okay." She said, "We'll take them for now. It's just a couple of weeks right?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow! Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows - and a huge _wow!_ to the reviewer (Georgie) who'd put an update on this story ahead of the sea! Seriously, I'm ridiculously flattered and proud that you like this book that much :)**

 **So I didn't like how this chapter ended, so I kept on writing until I found somewhere to end that I liked... but I STILL don't really like the way I ended this chapter, as it's too abrupt, but I can't find a good alternative so it'll have to do :/**

 **Hopefully you'll like the Stef-Jude scene here, I decided to keep parts the same as the pilot though with differences too - the main one being that Jude's there.**

 **As always, please follow, review or favourite this story if you like it!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. My** **cat** **is more likely to own this show than me...**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER TEN**

She had to admit, it was a nice home. When Bill had dropped them off, she wasn't sure _what_ to expect. The outside of the house alone was completely different to the other homes that they'd been to. For starters it was bigger, and better kept. Not only that but it wasn't in some shitty neighbour where the majority of the other residents where either druggies, gang members or drunks. Instead, it was in a nice sub-urban area, each house with luscious green lawns and neatly trimmed hedges, the epitome of home, the stereotypical image that everyone thought of. All that was needed was a family dog.

To her surprise, it wasn't just a nice house. The foster mother they met, Bill had said she was called Lena, seemed... kind - though she knew firsthand how wrong first impressions could be. After Bill had left, Lena had ushered them inside and led them to their large kitchen, insisting they sit whilst she got them each a did so hesitantly and cautiously whilst Lena talked to them, telling them useless information about her other kids - two adopted former-foster kids and one step-son from her partner's previous marriage - all of whom were currently at the school she worked in (she'd gotten the afternoon off in order to be around for when they got there).

Callie nodded, only half-listening, sub-consciously rubbing the top of her brother's back in reassurance as the two of them looked around, both silently marveling at the house they were in and how... _homely_ it seemed. She kept expecting the penny to drop.

And then it did.

First the other children - well, teens - had arrived home. The Latino twins being the first, the boy, Jesus, waltzing over to the table and grabbing a large apple before sending them a quick smile, whilst his sister, Mariana, barely gave them a glance, the only thing she bothered to say was that she hoped they'd be gone soon - apparently Callie was to share with her and she was less than pleased about this arrangement. Lena's step-son entered later, as they were serving dinner. Out of the three teens, he was the only one out of the other teens who remained friendly to the two of them for longer than five minutes, actually asking Jude questions and trying to get to know them. Not that it mattered. She doubted that they'd be there long. Not with how they'd left the previous home. Still, at least in this suburban area she should be able to avoid the police and keep off of their radar.

The other kids ate their food quickly, and soon it was just Callie, Jude and Lena in the kitchen, both newcomer's picking at their food whilst the foster mother kept them company. Callie almost admitted to herself that it seemed like a safe house.

But then Lena's partner entered.

Then Callie's heart stilled and her mouth went dry at the sight of the black uniform.

Of the duty belt that was still equipped with a gun and handcuffs.

Of the blonde haired cop who she immediately recognised.

Stef was Lena's partner. Stef, the cop who'd been outside her house just yesterday. Stef, the reason she'd reported her foster father as missing.

The penny had most definitely dropped, and, as usual, she'd gotten the worst fucking luck possible.

 **...**

She didn't say anything, hoping that - despite there being only two other people in the room - the police woman wouldn't recognise her, hoping that she wouldn't say anything, hoping that she wouldn't ask -

"Callie Jacob, right?" The woman shot her a quick smile, "I remember you from yesterday. You were at Jim Pearson's house, right?" Without waiting for a response, Stef replied, only pausing to eat a mouthful of lasagna, "Yeah, that's right. In fact, you're the one who told me that he was out, picking up groceries, and then later he was reported missing." The cop sent her a pointed look, her eyes stern and a note of irritation underlying her words. Callie looked down, desperate to avoid her gaze.

She couldn't believe that she'd already pissed of her new foster parents. Who _knew_ how they'd react - after all, one was a _freaking cop!_

She knew that the easiest thing to do would be to just apologise and make up some lame excuse. She didn't need to get into a fight, to get hurt. But she also needed to protect Jude, and sometimes the best way to do that was to make the foster parent so cross they got angry with her. After all, how else was she expected to gauge how they reacted when angry, how else could she work out their specialty, be it punches, hits or psychological.

So that's what she did.

Moving her head up, she tilted it and looked from Stef to Lena and back to Stef again.

"So you're dykes, right?"

Instead of the punch that she'd been expecting, she got a sharp intake of breath from Stef and a look of hurt from Lena.

"We'd prefer if you didn't use that sort of language," Lena eventually responded, "But yes, we're gay. Is that a problem?"

She shrugged, still trying to bait them, to provoke them, "Where am I sleeping again?"

Stef frowned, but didn't say anything as Lena led her to Mariana's room, which she'd be sharing for the time being.

 **...**

The problem, however, with Callie being led out of the room was that Jude remained inside it, unsure of what to do and with the woman that his sister had been intentionally trying to provoke.

After a moment of silence between the two of them, Jude sighed.

"What's a dyke?" He asked.

Stef blinked, slightly surprised, but smiled at him all the same. "It's a... not very nice word for two gay women - as in women who love other women, lesbians."

"So it's something that's said in a mean way to insult you, like faggot?"

"Yes..." Stef replied, her tone cautious as she tried to work out what direction their conversation was heading.

"Oh." He frowned slightly and Stef tilted her head, watching as the young boy's expression became thoughtful. "Well in that case she didn't mean it."

He spoke so firmly, so certain that what he said was true, that Stef couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Oh?" She mimicked, though not unkindly, "And why do you think that?"

"I don't _think_ that, I _know."_ Jude shook his head. "Callie would _never_ say that to be properly mean. One time a boy in the year above me called me a _'fucking faggot_ ' and Callie punched him so hard that his _tooth_ fell out!"

Stef frowned again at that, partially due to the language and partially due to the fact someone had said that to the young, innocent boy in front of her.

"Do people say that to you a lot?"

Jude shook his head. "Not really, not any more. If anybody does then Callie deals with them. She says that I shouldn't listen to them because they're small-minded, uneducated assholes who'll never amount to anything."

Despite herself, Stef laughed at that. Though she obviously did not approve of the description applied - and she knew that Lena would have liked it even less - it amazed her how a girl who'd comfort and support her brother like that could just as easily turn around and say cruel words to herself and Lena.

It made her more sure than ever that Callie Jacob was hiding behind a tough exterior and, as a result, it made her determined to break through to her, to give the teen the comfort and security that she gave to her brother.

With a sigh, Stef shook her head in order to clear her thoughts and smiled at the boy. "As nice as it's been talking to you, you should get to bed, Buddy."

Jude returned the smile, shyly. "Good night." He said in a soft, quiet voice, making Stef's smile widen.

"G'Night. Do you know where you're going?"

He nodded. "Lena showed me when we first got here - my bag's already in Jesus' room."

"Okay."

Another shared smile.

Another happy spark in his eyes.

Another pang in her heart.

She watched as he left the room.

"Everything okay down here?" She jumped at the sound of her partner's voice, before nodding.

"Yeah. I was just having a chat with Jude."

Lena raised an eyebrow at that. "He spoke to you?" At Stef's nod, she raised her eyebrows further, "And it was civil?"

"Uh-huh." Stef nodded once more. "And apparently Callie isn't actually homophobic, or anything. She actually protects him from being called any derogatory names himself."

"Oh really?" With a sigh, Lena sat down beside her, moving Stef's empty plate to the side and replacing it with a glass of red wine. "Well that's something at least."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The two of them met each other's eye and laughed.

"So this act," Lena took a sip of her own drink, "How long will it last?"

Stef shrugged, "Who knows? We'll just have to keep chipping away at her walls."

"And that's going to work?"

"Eventually."

"Eventually?" Lena raised an eyebrow, "Well I guess it's a good thing they're not going anywhere soon."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for all the new reviews, favourites and follows, they really** **well and truly make me happy :)**

 **Sorry for the wait, I've kind of been busy and I wanted to make sure I knew what would be happening before writing this chapter (I've sort of been writing this story by ear, but at the same time I've had a plan... if that makes sense?)**

 **Oh, also, I have the feeling that this chapter will probably have some characters acting a little OOC. I'm sorry for that, but I'm not going to change it as, to be fair, this whole story has a lot of OOC concepts...**

 **As always any reviews, follows and favourites are appreciated and recieved with much gratitude :D**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER ELEVEN**

She didn't get why they weren't already gone, weren't already kicked out, bruised and beaten. She'd lied to Stef - _whilst_ she was working as a _fucking cop -_ and insulted both women in the worst possible way. But they hadn't said anything about it, hadn't _really_ reacted at all. It was like they knew she hadn't meant it - and she hadn't. She'd just wanted a reaction, a sign, _any_ sort of indication so that she'd know what to look for, what the signs of anger looked like on each of the women and how they acted whilst angry. But instead she got nothing.

Nothing, but an underlying sense of guilt at the bottom of her stomach She'd barely said a word since Lena had showed her to the room she'd be staying in and had handed her two pillows and a toothbrush - she'd somehow lost her previous one during the move from Jim's house to the Fosters'.

Sitting down on the inflatable mattress that had been placed against the wall opposite to where Mariana's large queen sized bed was positioned - apparently Jude and her would be getting their own beds but they hadn't arrived and until then this was the best they could do other than sharing the sofa - she sighed and rested her head against the cold, smooth surface of the wall.

 _Seriously?! She felt worse about calling the two women downstairs 'dykes' than she had when she'd caused Jim's death!_

But she wasn't only feeling guilty because of what she'd called Stef and Lena. It was because whilst neither had reacted, _Jude had_ been there, in that room, when she'd said it, and once he realised what it meant, there was a chance that he'd be upset. Sure, _he might_ understand, but that was - in her opinion - unlikely. And as such, she felt bad about even thinking to say _that_ with him present. She wasn't, after all, an idiot. Jude was a twelve year old _boy_ who enjoyed wearing dresses and other _girly_ things - she knew what people thought, what they said to each other, she knew what they all assumed.

 _And that wasn't fair. But then again, when was anything_ ever _fair? Not ever for people like her. And unfortunately, that's what many people assumed abut Jude. That he was a bad seed, a rotten apple, a hopeless case, and all because that's what she was. And she knew there was no fucking point in denying it._

And so she heard what they said, heard what they thought as they didn't bother to lower their voices, didn't bother keeping keeping their opinions regarding her brother to themselves. But what they said - well, what they _meant_ by what the crude, harsh words they used - didn't matter, not to her, and not ever. But still, she knew that what they said could upset him, could cause him to try and hide, to not be himself. And she's taken too much of the systems's bullshit to let him fall now. No, she hadn't meant it, and if he ever thought that she had, then she didn't think she could ever forgive herself.

For the third time, she sighed, but this time it was echoed with a far more exasperated - and more than a little exaggerated - one from the room's other occupant.

Mariana momentarily closed the sticker-clad lid of her laptop and placed the lid for the bottle of florecent pink nail polish she'd been using to the side, before shooting her a clear look of annoyance.

"Do you mind?!" She asked with a huff, " _Some_ of us are trying to _concentrate!"_

Callie raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything, instead sending the younger girl a small, sarcastic smile. "Sorry, I didn't know nail painting counted needed that much work put into it." Her tone unabashed and unapologetic.

Mariana glared at her, before turning her attention back to her nails. "Whatever." She muttered angrily.

Callie unintentionally sighed again, and lent back against her bed.

 _It was going to be a long night..._

 **...**

By ten she had made sure she had her emergency let's-get-the-fuck-out-of-here clothes hidden.

By eleven Lena had came in and told them it was lights out.

By twelve Mariana was apparently asleep, turning every now and then, but without any indication that she was still awake.

By one Callie was bored out of her fucking mind and desperate to check on Jude.

By two she'd snuck out of her bed and had now knew that Jude was safe - and surprisingly comfortable enough away from her to be fast asleep.

And by three she'd left the house, equipped with only a flashlight and a bottle of Stef's beer.

She knew that she'd probably get into trouble for the latter item, but she didn't care. Not then, not at all. Somehow, she found herself on the beach, walking barefooted down a deserted stretch of sand, watching the grey, stormy clouds roll across the sky and unable to stop the small smile from appearing across her face as a few daring waves lapped at her feet.

"And here I thought that I was the only one up at this time."

She jumped at the sound of another person's voice, and turned to find a boy around her age with purposely messy, shoulder-length hair grinning happily at her from the pavement.

"I'm glad I was wrong though." He crossed the sand, moving towards her and stuck out him hand. "M'names Wyatt, what's yours?"

She gave him a small smile smile, but didn't say anything. After all, last time she'd just met someone they'd ended up burning a fricking body and then he stormed 'round, furious at her, accusing her of ratting the two of them out to the cops - why would she risk _that_ again?

 _Then again, this time she hadn't been caught hiding a body in a shed. Instead, the worse she had on her now was the beer she'd nicked from the fridge and somehow she didn't think he'd care much about that..._

She sighed and shrugged. "I'm Callie, Callie Jacob. My brother and I are being fostered right now by -"

"Lena Adams and Stef Foster?" Wyatt nodded, interupting her, "Yeah, I know them."

She frowned, "I just said that I was being fostered, how did you know it'd be them?"

"They're foster parents. Their son, Brandon, is in my year - he's actually dating my ex - and, well, _everyone_ knows that they adopted Mariana and Jesus after fostering them for a while. So obviously, you're living with them."

"Oh." She didn't have anything else to say, and instead decided to take a sip from her beer, before offering it to Wyatt who immediately took a large slurp, finishing it off. "Guess that makes sense."

"Yeah."

The two of them silently sat down on the sand, neither one asking if the other wanted to but neither saying they'd rather not. With another huge grin, Wyatt pulled a small, glass bottle, half full with a clear liquid, from under his coat. "Vodka?" He offered.

"Thanks."She grinned at him and happily took a sip, consequences be damned.

It took a surprisingly short time for the bottle to end up empty, and by that time both of them were lying side by side, staring up at the sky, watching as it gradually became a lighter colour.

"You know, when I was little, my mom used to take me to the park and we'd write messages in bottles and then float them in the pond there. I was so young that I didn't even realise they'd never go anywhere, never reach anyone. I thought they'd sail on forever and eventually some guy on a deserted island would find them and be able to use the paper to send a message back. I never got a reply, though. I guess the park-keepers must have assumed that it was just random litter and chucked them away. That's kind of sad, you know..." She sighed wistfully, "It's just kind of sad."

"Yeah," Wyatt agreed. "It is. You know, I used to send them off all the time here. Not messages, exactly, but worries, regrets, fears. even confessions. It sounds silly, but I always felt better after I'd done that."

"Oh," Callie rolled over onto her stomach and traced shapes into the sand, "Well I could do with doing that. I swear that I've ended up with more regrets and concerns this past month than any other time before, in my life. I just keep making crap decision after crap fucking decision."

"Well then it's decided!" With another grin, Wyatt tore the labels off of the two bottles and passed her a pen - for whatever reason he had three in his pocket. "Write something and then we'll set them afloat. C'mon!"

She grinned at that, liking the idea and took the piece of label as well as the pen that he offered. Then she stared at the paper.

 _What should she write? What was she fearing the most? What was eating her up inside? She knew, of course she did - how could it even_ be _anything else?!_

Uncapping the pen, she quickly scribbled it down, before rolling up the paper and stuffing it inside the bottle. Wyatt did the same with the other and together they threw them into the water, teasing each other about one another's throwing abilities. And then they walked way. And she felt better, she really did. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and nothing could place it back there.

 _It was like she was free._

 **...**

They really should have checked which direction the tide was going. It was going _in_ not _out._ Which meant that the bottles weren't going out to see either, instead being carried further in the beach. It was only a matter of time before a jogger, out before the busy hussle of a chaotic day happened across them. At first, he though the brown beer bottle was just worthless litter, another asshole with no thoughts towards the environment at all, before he realised that it contained a piece of paper inside it, like the clear vodka bottle only meters away from it. The first piece of paper was blank, more for show than anything else, but the second... the second piece of paper _was._ Without hesitation, the jogger grabbed the message and the bottle and headed towards the police station. He had a feeling that the cops would want to see this.

Once there and with an officer he handed over the piece of paper, his hand shaking slightly. "I know it could be a hoax, but..."

"It might not be." The officer nodded, his face full of grim understanding, "Well thank you for bringing this to my attention. I assure you that there will be a full investigation as to what this is about and what it means."

Dismissed, the jogger left, a feel of unease settling on him as he remembered the words he'd just read - the words he'd just shown the police.

' _I hid the body, but it wasn't me. I didn't kill him.'_


	12. Chapter 12

**Again, sorry for the wait and, again, thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows :) I'm pretty sure that this chapter is going to be really short (sorry!) but that's because whilst I know what I want to happen, I'm not sure how exactly to write it :3**

 **Also, I actually tried to upload a couple of days ago, but the login page wouldn't work so I couldn't _actually_ log in :/**

 **As always, please review, favourite or follow if you like it - and even PM me if you want :)**

 **DISCLAIMER:** **I don't own a thing to do with the Fosters. This story should also not be used to kill people and get away with murder (mainly because of moral reasons but also as I'm not sure it'd work... :p )**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER TWELVE**

When Stef went to bed the night before, she certainly did not expect to be woken up at informed six-thirty with a call from the station informing her about a possible murder, nor the said murder's cover-up. However, that was, of course, how her day started and it just went downhill from there.

For starters, the precinct was out of coffee, making Stef incredibly regretful about skipping her morning drink as she'd rushed to get to the station. Not only that, but the entire place was flooded with officers and reporters - apparently the jogger who'd found the note had stupidly gone and told the press. She'd barely had a moments piece and it was doubtful that she'd get any for the next couple of weeks.

"Stef!" She looked up sharply at the familiar voice of her ex-husband. Mike half walked, half-jogged over to her, a happy smile on his face. "Hey, there's been a call from the presinct. Apparently there's been a case of arson that's just been reported, the fire department are on the way, though the fire seems to have long burned out, and they need a couple of officers to go too. Do you want to check it out - it'll give you a break from this and it's been ages since you or I have had a case of arson?"

She blinked in surprise, before smiling warmly at the man and nodding. ""Sure, I'll get my jacket."

 **...**

The building was an old warehouse. An old, abandoned warehouse. An old, abandoned, _burnt_ warehouse. And something about it _definitely_ did not seem accidental.

"Yup." Mike nodded, surveying the sight of the building as Stef voiced her thoughts to him. "We better look around."

Agreeing, Stef headed inside, wary of any loose materials as she entered the falling-to-pieces building. At first, she couldn't see anything that usual, bar the discarded beer cans - some prior, some post the fire - but then, as her flashlight swept the room, she spotted _it._

The charred remains of a body.

A _human_ body.

"MIKE!" She screamed, bile rising up in her throat, "Mike, we have a problem!"

 **...**

Like Stef, Lena had had a rather chaotic day. Between getting the kids out of the house, giving a tour of the school to a potential student and his parents, and going to three different staff meetings, she hadn't had an opportunity to have a five minute break until mid-afternoon. And to make matters worst, she then found out that her oldest foster child had been absent for her first and second classes, having skipped them.

By the time she'd gotten home and made food for everyone she was in desperate need for a drink and wanted nothing more than the comforting arms of her partner.

When Stef arrived home, quieter than usual and unable to get the image of the crispy, blackened corpse out of her mind, Lena was relieved.

Pulling her wife to the side, she informed her of what Callie had done, handing her the note Timothy, Callie's English teacher - who'd been teaching one of the classes that she'd missed - had given her.

Lena had expected for her to want to lecture the teen and possibly ground her. What she hadn't expected was for Stef's eyes to widen and for the woman to all but sprint to the fridge, yanking the door open and turning to count the beer bottles in it.

"There's only five beers. There should be six, Lena. There were six yesterday, one's missing!"

"What?" Lena frowned, confused and unable to understand Stef's thought prosess. "Are you sure? Why does that matter? Shouldn't we talk about-?"

"It was the same brand that I have." Stef muttered, thinking allowed and confusing her partner even more.

"What, Stef? What are you on about?"

"Love, I'm - I'm sorry." Stef shot her an apologetic look. "I need to go back to the station, it's about a case we got today..."

"Oh, okay." Pushing her disappointment aside, Lena nodded, "Sure, you just.. go. I'll keep your dinner warm."

"Thanks, Love." With a quick peck on the lips, Stef hurried out of the house, and got into her car, closing the car door behind her, before leaning back in her seat and trying to clear her thoughts.

 _She'd recognised that handwriting._

 _Callie's handwriting was the same as the one on the mystery note._

 _Callie had, more than likely, wrote the note._

 _There was a chance she was housing a murderer._


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, so here's the next chapter. I can't believe I've got 60 reviews on this, I mean WOW!**

 **As always, please please** ** _please_** **review, follow or favourite this story if you like it.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Me? Own anything? Yeah right(!)**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

She figured that she'd get into trouble when Stef's missing beer was discovered. She figured that that would be that, she'd be kicked out. Hopefully, they'd keep Jude, but they wouldn't need - or _want_ \- to keep her. And she was okay with that, she could almost say that she _wanted_ that to happen. For once she didn't have to worry about Jude, they were _too_ nice, _too_ forgiving - her brother would actually be safe here - and there was no chance that she deserved such kindness. Besides, she didn't have that sort of luck.

So when Lena and Stef called her to talk to them that evening, she had an idea in her head of what to expect.

But, of course, these people just kept on surprising her.

"Callie!" With a smile Lena greeted her, patting the space next to her, at the end of her bed, "Please, sit."

She did so hesitantly, avoiding looking either woman directly in the eye and instead gazing around the room. Though she's never been in their room before, she wasn't surprised by it's appearance, nor the many photo frames that decorated the surfaces. It was neat, tidy and - above all - homely, like everything else in the house.

The two women shot each other a discreet look, though it did not go unnoticed by her. Instantly, her spine stiffened and she froze, not daring to move. She'd seen foster-parents give each other silent looks before, usually it was just before they started beating her. A surge of defiance shot through her as the two adult's remained silent. Holding her chin high and squaring her shoulders, she glared at the women with as much venom as she could, causing Lena to shift slightly, subconsciously moving away, and Stef to move closer to her partner.

"Well?" She demanded, "What is it? What are you going to do? Because if you hit me, I'm going to scream, you're prissy little neighbours will hear that and they'll probably call the cops, so... _don't?"_ She could have hit herself. She'd started off to strong, sounding so sure of herself, but the end of her warning was weak, asking a question, rather than ordering them on what to do. But by then, she'd already realised the obvious - Stef was a cop. And threatening to report an officer to the authorities was the biggest no-no possible. If she wasn't already, then she was now completely fucked. there was _no_ way that she'd be leaving the room unscathed.

"-Callie?" She blinked at Lena's voice. apparently the woman had been speaking to her, she'd just failed to hear her. "Callie, did you hear what I just said?"

She quickly nodded, not about to admit to not listening, however at Stef's raised eyebrow and Lena's small smile, she knew that they knew she hadn't been.

"Sorry."

"It's not a problem, Love." Stef smiled softly at her, "However stealing and underage drinking is."

"Sorry." She repeated, her tone flat, her eyes lifeless. "I couldn't sleep and -"

"What, you decided a beer would help?" Stef cut in, her tone stern.

"Stef!" Lena warned her partner, her tone matching the one Stef had used, as she noticed the look of panic that had passed across the teen's face. Turning to Callie, she held the girl's shaking hands. "Honey, what we're trying to say is that you _can't_ behave like this, _can't_ intentionally go and break our rules. We're trying, Callie, we are, but you need to be trying too -and, right now, you're not. Unfortunately if you don't begin trying, we'll have to tell Bill that this placement isn't working out and you - _and Jude -_ will have to move. And honestly, neither Stef nor myself wants that to happen.."

"Yes," Stef softened her voice as she nodded in agreement at her partner's words. "And if that isn't enough incentive for you, then need I remind you that consuming alcohol and stealing - even if it's only a beer from the fridge - goes against the terms of your probation. If you get caught, then, unfortunately, you'll most likely get sent back to Juvie. Do you understand what I'm - what _we're_ saying?"

She nodded slowly, finally looking up and meeting both pairs of eyes. "Look," She began, her voice slightly shaky. Pausing, she cleared her mind, before looking down at her hands once more. "Look, I get it. If you don't want to keep me, then I understand. Send me to a different home - or even back to Juvie, I don't care. Just... just _please_ promise me one thing. Just... make sure that Jude gets a good home, a safe one, one were he's loved - he's a good kid and he deserves that, he _does._ So please, just promise me that."

"Oh Callie," Stef sighed. "Neither of you are going anywhere, we just want you to try a bit harder. And you don't need to worry about your brother, at all. Worry about yourself Callie, stop selflessly putting Jude in front of you and your needs behind him. You're not disposable, Callie, you're not worthless."

Callie gave her a small smile, though her head remained bowed and her eyes filled with disbelief.

Stef sighed again, "Well, off you go, I think our talk's been long enough already, okay? Just... don't take beers - or anything alcoholic, snacks and orange juice is fine - from the fridge again, okay?"

Callie nodded, and quickly left the room. Both women watched her leave, sitting in silence for a minute. With a sigh, Lena got up, "I better check on the others, make sure that Jude's settled and that Jesus has done his homework."

"Hmmm." Stef made a non-committal noise of agreement and her partner left as she remained in her thoughts.

She couldn't help it. The image of the girl they just been speaking to was stuck in her head. Those hunched shoulders, scared eyes, bowed head. They weren't the signs of a murder. They were just the signs of someone who was incredibly scared.

And that's how she knew. Stef Foster _knew_ that it wasn't - _couldn't -_ be Callie Jacob who'd killed someone. Which meant that she _had_ to have been the person to have wrote the note, and had to have just covered up the murder. And now Stef _really_ wanted to know why - not just as a police officer, but also as a mother. Because, she'd never wanted to help the girl as much as she wanted to help her now. And honestly, that thought both surprised and scared her.


	14. Chapter 14

**SORRY for the long wait, I meant to upload WAY sooner, but, between college (highschool to some people) and not knowing EXACTLY what to write, I didn't... :3 Again, sorry!**

 **As always, THANK YOU ALL for the reviews, favourites and follows! :D**

 **Hopefully this chapter will be enjoyable for all of you - and if you think so then please don't hesitate to review, favourite, follow or even PM me :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own a dime (Literally -I live in England, though you probably get the point I'm trying to make.) I don't own anything to do with the Fosters. At all. Ever.**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

After all the shit she'd gone through - both recently and not - she was surprised to find that she _still_ didn't expect everything to immediately become totally fucked up. It was stupid, she knew, but it was almost as though she'd expected things to get better. She'd constantly gone from one abusive home to another for the past six years, so when she'd landed the Fosters, and _hadn't_ been ' _dealt with'_ it had seemed as though her luck may have finally changed. But, of course, it hadn't.

She stood, frozen, next to the side of Lena's car, her face containing a look of pure horror as she stared at the scene in front of her.

Reporters flocked the beach like vultures around a carcass, creating a vast committee of them that stretched across the strand of sand, going right up to - and in some cases _past -_ the school's borders. Members of the local police weaved between them, trying to create a barrier between them and the public and trying to keep students away from them.

 _"Woah!"_ She jumped as someone spoke, their voice close to her ear, as she was reminded that she wasn't alone. Turning around, she looked at her younger foster brother, Jesus, who had just spoken, and whose face had a stunned look of marvel on it.

"Woah!" He repeated, "How many members of press are there? Why d'you reckon that they're here? Is that why mom left early?" Although the majority of his questions weren't directed to anyone in particular, the last one was to Lena, who, in turn, shrugged.

"I don't know Honey, probably - I think I can see Mike over there. Will you kids be okay finding your own ways to class, I want to see if I can find Stef?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

"Yup."

"Yeah."

Each replying in there own ways, Mariana, Brandon, Jesus and Jude all agreed and started to disperse, Jude hesitating initially until his sister shot him a smile and then heading off to find his new friend, Conner.

"Callie?" Lena frowned slightly, "Are you okay?"

"Wha- yeah." She nodded, trying - and failing - to seem fine, to seem as though everything was hunky dory. At Lena's look of concern, she nodded again, thing time smiling confidently, "Really," She assured er foster mother, "I'm fine. There's just a lot going on."

Lena didn't say anything, though she shot the teen a sympathetic look, knowing full well that all was _not_ well, and hoping she'd open up and talk. Callie, however, took her silence as an excuse to leave and did so quickly, practically running as soon as she was out of the woman's sight.

Once she was out of sight, Callie allowed herself to breathe, allowed herself to _think._

She couldn't believe it, couldn't believe how quickly it could all go wrong, couldn't believe how easily shed _caused_ everything to go wrong. Once again she was remained of how fucking unfair her life was.

She felt like screaming. But she knew better than to do that. Amongst other things, that'd cause attention to be placed upon her and she _really_ did not want that - not after what she'd just seen, what she could now assume.

The note had been found. The note had been found and the police had it now. The fucking police. She was doomed, completely and utterly fucked and with no options. No options. She had nothing and the police would know it as soon as they realised what she'd done, that _she_ was the one they were looking for. Hell, Stef was _part_ of the police and fucking _lived_ with her. Despite all the kind, comforting words that the blonde cop that said to her, she knew - _she knew -_ that when it came to it she would be discarded, tossed to the curb like a bag of garbage. And Jude would be too.

And she wouldn't let that happened. She _couldn't._

 _..._

Unknown to her, Stef's reaction to the number of reporter's was much like her foster daughter's. She stood, gaping at the sheer number, her mind momentarily blank as she tried to think of a single way that she could possibly regain control over the situation."Stef!"

She looked up in surprise as Mike hurried over to her, a large, overflowing cup of coffee in each hand.

"Hey!" He smiled as he handed her her drink, "Trust me, you'll need this."

"Thanks," She tried to return his smile, but ended up grimacing as the hot liquid scalded her throat. "I could _kill_ that jogger."

"Hmmm." Mike nodded, making a noise of agreement, "Well, talking about killing, that fire-victim? Not only has it been declared arson, but we've managed to ID the body. You'll never guess who it is."

"Oh yeah, who?" Stef raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Only _Jim Pearson_ , the guy we were meant to _speak_ with a couple of days ago before he'd supposedly packed up and left."

"Oh." She couldn't form any words, she could barely _breathe._

 _Jim Pearson._

Jim Pearson, Callie and Jude's former, rather absent foster father.

 _Callie and Jude._

Callie, whose writing matched the same as the note in the bottle.

 _The note in the bottle._

The note in the bottle that admitted to covering up murder.

 _A murder that was, most likely, of Jim Pearson..._

Mike continued to talk, blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil she felt inside of her. She couldn't hear what he was saying, she couldn't process a single word. Only one thought kept running through her mind, repeatedly.

 _Oh Callie, what have you done?!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, so again, sorry for the wait :3 Thank you for the new follows and to the Guest who reviewed... it was the only review I got *sniff* :'( (Not to complain or anything, but pleeeeeeaaaseee? Reviews... favourites... follows... they** **actually** **provide motivation to write more sooner...)**

 **So this one's not the longest, but it's not the shortest either. I've got to admit, I'm kind of hoping that you guys like it - I'm not too sre on it, but at the same time I really like it (and the ending of it more than anything...), so please, let me know XD**

 **Any how, here's the next upload, pleas** ** _e_** **review, favourite or follow if you liked it :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Nottttthhhhiiiiiiinng**

 **CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

"What have you done?!"

Callie jumped, startled and more than a little bit confused as a hand grabbed hold of her arm and she found herself shoved sideways against a wall. Unable to successfully control the hoards of journalists outside, her school had been reluctantly forced to close for the week, and, as a result, the teen had decided to walk home in an effort to clear her mind. Or at least, that's what she'd planned.

"Well?! ANSWER ME!" The grip on her arm tightening as the owner of the voice angrily pressed her harder against the side of the brick wall, and she was forcefully pulled from her thoughts. "I SAID FUCKING ANSWER ME!"

She could feel her heart rate quickening, and struggled to keep herself from panicking as she tried to understand what was happening, _who_ was attacking her. "I-I don't... What do you want?"

She didn't get a response, not right away. Instead, she was pushed _further_ against the wall, the side of her face scraping against the rough surface of the bricks as she struggled, and the hand on her arm squeezed it harder - she had no doubt she'd have several bruise souvenirs as a result of this encounter. With a yell, her attacker lifted his other hand and punched the wall beside her, missing her face by little more than a millimetre. She flinched, and instantly regretted doing so as the movement caused her cheek to drag against the wall, causing her pain.

" _Shit!"_ The voice was calmer now. After turning her so that she was facing forward, the attacker released her arm. Her eyes grew as she recognised the person.

"Toby?"

He said nothing, glaring as he moved away from her.

"Toby, what the _fuck?!"_

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

He laughed, a cold, humourless one. "Seriously, y _ou're_ asking _me_ that?! After all the _shit_ you've fucking gone and got us into?!"

Callie frowned. "I didn't get _us_ into anything!" She retorted, " _You_ chose to help-"

"- _After_ _seeing_ you _drag a fucking body around the garden!"_ He interjected, raising an eyebrow, " _After_ that!"

"You _still_ chose to. It was _you_ who worked out the best way to get rid of it, _you._ So why the _fuck_ did you just have me against a _fucking wall?!"_ She took a step towards him, another, and another. She was angry now, furious actually.

 _He was fucking insane, a fucking nut-job, and she didn't want a thing to do with him. Not now, not anymore. It had obviously been a mistake, including him. How dare he act as if it was just her. How dare he fucking attack her. How dare he come all the way from fucking Sans Ysidro_ just _to attack her._

"You know why. You fucking well know why!"

She snorted, conveying her disbelief and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well you _should_. I came here after hearing the _news_ this morning. The news about a note that contained a _confession_ to _committing murder -_ or at least covering it up. _" He raised an eyebrow. "Would you happen to know anything about it?"_

She didn't say anything, not that that mattered, she didn't have to - her face said it all.

"IDIOT!" He pushed her angrily, causing her to fall back against the wall. "You _fucking idiot!"_

She was surprised when she flinched again. After all, how many times had she had those words directed at her? How many times had someone looked at her with as much disgust and _venom_ as the boy in front of her? But then, most of them hadn't spent time helping her, hadn't acted as though they were friends. But Toby had, and somehow she'd fucked up.

He sighed, drawing her away from her thoughts. "Okay, okay, this will... this will be okay. It _has_ to be. No one knows that it was you - that's right, right? Nobody knows that, right?" He paused, only continuing when she nodded, "Right, well then... there's no proof. Nothing to link it to us. We'll be okay. It'll blow over. I mean, it was found by a _school_ \- surely people will just think that it's a joke, a stupid practical joke..."

He trailed off, sighing again. "Yeah, we'll be fine So long as you listen to me, and don't do anything stupid."

"No." His look of surprise mirrored her own, both shocked that she'd openly disagreed.

"What?!"

"I said; no." She tilted her chin up, trying to act tough, trying to hide her fear. "I'm _not_ going to listen to you. As we've already confirmed, no one knows that it was us - that it was _me -_ so no, I won't fucking listen to you. I'll do what the _fuck_ I want!" By the end, she was yelling, anger filling her body as she glared at him.

Toby smirked, his previous surprise replaced with a look of utter contempt. "Oh yeah?" He sneered, "I doubt it. If you don't do as I say, I'll tell the cops _everything..._ Well, everything that _you_ did. And you being... well, _you,_ means that only one of us will go down - and it sure as hell won't be me."

Callie continued to glare at him, but didn't say anything, causing his smirk to widen.

"As I thought." He narrowed his eyes at her, "And just so you don't get any more stupid ideas, I'm going to let in on a little secret; _if you do anything, I'll fucking know about it._ And before you inject and try to disagree, let me ask you something. How do you think I knew it was you? How do you think I knew the note found was from you, huh? After all, we both know that it isn't common knowledge. So ask yourself _how did I know?_ "

She felt her blood go cold as she realised what he was saying, what it meant. "You- You've been _following_ me?!"

If possible, it seemed as though Toby's smirked widened more. "Oh Foster-Killer, Oh you silly little girl, I've done more than just follow you - I've managed to completely corner you. And it's not just me. My cousin lives nearby, you see, so he's offered to help out - to help... _control_ you. So far, I've told him that that's unnecessary, but if you don't do exactly what I say... well, then I'll accept his help."

A feeling of unease swept across her body. Ignoring it, she cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow at him. "Am I supposed to be scared? If he's anywhere near as nutty as you are, then chances are he won't listen to you, he won't care how ' _controlled'_ I am. I don't fucking know him, so why should I be scared, why should I worry? Why should that make me listen?!"

Toby laughed at that, actually _laughed._

"Oh Callie," He told her, "That's where you're wrong. I think you'll find that you _will_ do as I say, because you _do_ know him. In fact, you know him rather well."

She frowned, confused and more than a little wary as a deep feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach. "What do you mean, who is he?"

Toby smiled at her, his eyes alight with vindictive delight.

"His name," He said, his words slow as he watched her face carefully, "His name is Liam, Liam Olmstead."

She felt as though the air was forced from her lungs, as though her heart had stopped.

 _Toby was right. She_ would _do whatever he told her to._


	16. Chapter 16

**Woah - 70 reviews?! Wow, thanks! :D**

 **Also thanks for the many follows and favourites this story now has! (Yay!) :)**

 **To be honest, I'm not sure what's going to be in this chapter yet, I'm kind of just writing it as I go along :3 Still, as always, please favourite, follow and/or review if you like it. Oh and feel free to let me know any improvements or how you want this to go (I have a plan, but plans can always change XD )**

 **I'm afraid this isn't like REALLY long, but I just want to update - it's been over a month and that doesn't seem fair to anyone who actually likes this story...**

 **So yeah.. ONWARDS we go!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own squat.**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

As soon as she got home, she quickly rushed to the downstairs bathroom, locking the door behind her before leaning against it and sliding down onto the floor. She couldn't believe it, couldn't believe the mess she'd once again got herself into, couldn't believe the bad luck that constantly followed her around.

 _Who was she kidding? Of course she'd have the worst luck, it'd always been that way and obviously that wasn't about to change. It was so fucking typically why should she be surprised?!_

Still, that didn't stop the tears that slid down her cheeks, nor the sobs that escaped her.

Toby knew Liam. He knew Liam and he knew what Liam had fucking done. And worse, he was using that, holding that above her head, making her his puppet - or, as he later put it, his bitch.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

More sobs escaped her and soon they included a cascade of tears as she desperately tried to work out how she could handle the situation she was in, how she could deal with it. Worryingly, her mind drew a blank.

She really couldn't do anything.

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart, still - despite knowing it to be hopeless - trying to find a way out. But there wasn't one. Not this time.

Her breathing quickened and suddenly she couldn't control it, couldn't think, couldn't...

Wrapping her hands tightly in her hair, she pulled her head down to her knees, curling up onto the floor in the fetal position as she tried to calm herself down. Eventually she did so, though by that time, her grip had loosened and only one hand remained in her hair, the other being used to rub the bridge of her nose as she self-soothed. Once her tears had stopped, she slowly sat up straight and wiped her eyes. When her hand brushed against her injuries, she sighed. Whilst she'd established that there was nothing she could do about the whole _Toby/Liam/Dead-Body_ situation, one thing she could do was to make herself look presentable and avoid any questions asked by Stef or Lena - she had enough problems as it was, there was no need to add being kicked out of yet another home to that list. Standing up, she made her way to sink and examined herself in the mirror, assessing the damage.

Her right cheek was bright pink and sore, with remains of dried blood evident on it,and a large bruise already forming around her cheekbone. Her hair was tousled and messed up and her eyes were red from crying. The rest of her body was just as bad, she already knew that. Rolling up the grubby, now torn sleeve of her jacket, she wasn't in the least bit surprised to see the blotchy, dark purple bruises that covered both arms. The swollen inflammation around her left elbow, however, worried her. She wasn't sure when she'd hurt it, but a dull shot of pain emitted from it whenever she used it, limiting her movement. Still, she couldn't do anything about it now. Realising how long she'd spent in the room, she quickly washed her face, rinsing off the blood and grime and, hopefully, causing her to look more presentable, before unlocking the door and stepping through it.

"Better?"

She jumped at the sound of Stef's voice and turned to see the woman leaning beside the doorframe, her eyebrow raised as she met Callie's gaze.

"I-I...What do you mean?" The teen stumbled over her words, unsure of what to do, of what to say.

"Well, when you arrive home later than everyone else from school, practically sprint to the bathroom as soon as you get here and stay locked in there for about forty-five minutes, I can't help but worry, Sweets." The blonde smiled softly at her, making her want to start bawling all over again.

But she didn't.

Instead, she shrugged as nonchalantly as she could. "Oh." She frowned slightly, considering Stef's words, "Wait a sec, shouldn't you be at work? I mean, it _is_ the middle of the day...?"

"Lunch break, I usually take long ones each Monday so that I can spend them with Lena. However, with the school being closed that means she's here, hence my presence. So, I answered your question, do you think you can answer mine now - are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She answered the question quickly - too quickly judging by the look on Stef's face.

"Callie-"

"Stef, really, I am. I just... I stopped by the library to pick up some books for a project. That's why I took longer getting back. Now I really need to get on with my homework, so if you don't mind...?"

Before the older woman could get out another word, she'd left the room, hurrying upstairs to retreat to her room.

Stef watched her go and sighed. What the teen had said was as obvious a lie as the marks on her face were an indication that something had happened. Though what, Stef wasn't sure, and - considering her other concerns about the girl - she couldn't help the sinking feeling that maybe this time Lena and her were way over their heads regarding Callie Jacob...


	17. Chapter 17

**Happy New Year! :D (And a late Merry Christmas!)**

 **Thank you for the new favourites, follows and the two new reviews, I love knowing what you guys think (and what you want to happen) so please do tell me - good or bad, I want to know :)**

 **So this chapter... some parts I like and others I really don't... So yeah, please let me know what you think... :3**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Fosters, nor will I ever do so.**

 **Updated 11/07/17**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

She spent the rest of the day hiding in her room, in an effort to avoid everybody.

Unfortunately, she had no choice but to come down for dinner - else raise suspicions she did not want nor need. Moving to her table, she silently accepted the plate of food that Lena offered her and sat down next to her brother. Other than the small smile she directed at Jude when he looked quizzically at her, she tried not to interact with anyone, her mental walls high as she tried to get through the meal without any problems, anxiously counting down the seconds until she could be back upstairs.

However, she underestimated her foster moms' powers of observation. Whilst she thought she was shrinking into the background, going unnoticed in the mass of noise of the other teens, she was in fact drawing as much attention to herself as what she'd get if she had a huge neon sign above her head. As she ate, head down and avoiding all eye-contact, Stef and Lena were having a silent conversation across the table, trying to work out what was wrong.

But before they had the chance to address it, someone else spoke out.

"What happened to your face?"

Callie's spine stiffened at the words directed at her but she didn't answer, and nor did she look up or move in the slightest.

"Callie? Didn't you hear me - I asked what happened to your face? Is that why you've been hiding in my room all day?"

The stretch of silence that followed as everyone else at the table tuned into the conversation/line-of-questioning that was happening seemed to last an eternity to her as she tried to figure out what to say, what to do.

"Your room? I think you'll find that the two of you share, equally, might I add." Stef's tone was humourous as she broke the quiet, playfully scolding her adopted daughter an reminding her of her manners.

"Yeah, whatever," With a carefree wave of her hand, Mariana dismissed her mother's warning, instead continuing to question her foster sister. "Well, did you hear me? What happen-?"

"Yes, Miss Thing, I think she heard you, but maybe Callie doesn't want to answer you right now, okay?" The girl in question silently breathed a huge sigh of relief as Stef once again cut in, saving her from having to answer the question - well, at least momentarily so.

Mariana half-frowned, pouting slightly, before letting out her own sigh. "Okay." She let out another, rather disgruntled, sigh, "Whatever."

After a slight hesitation, conversation around the dinner table started up again and Callie was once again left alone, though she was acutely aware of the glances she continued to receive from everyone else.

Eventually dinner was finished and as, one by one, everyone left, Callie could feel the tension tightly wound around her body slowly loosen. She'd made it. She'd gotten through the dinner.

 _Like it was ever that easy... She had - of course - spoken too soon._

Standing up and heading to the sink with her plate in her hand, she was still too alert, too aware of who was present around her and where they were, that she didn't notice her downfall. Which in this case came in the form of Jesus' skateboard.

One second she was okay, walking fine, and the next one foot was no longer on the solid, firm ground. She slipped, her arms flailing as she fell, causing her already injured elbow to wack the side of the table and her other hand to let go of her plate. As pain jolted up her arm, she barely managed to muffle her shout of pain. Not that doing so was necessary, the loud smash of ceramic hitting the ground, followed by the clatter of her cutlery, proved loud enough for all attention in the room to be, once again, directed purely at her. Not only that, but footsteps sounded as those who had already left reappeared, curious as to what was causing the commotion.

"Oh my!" At Lena's loud exclamation as she saw the scene in front of her, Callie couldn't stop herself from flinching, a movement that didn't go unnoticed by either foster mom. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Wha-?" Callie frowned, "Yes, y-yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Sweets, that was quite the fall...?" Stef's voice was concern for the girl was clear, causing Callie's frown to deepen.

"I'm sure. Your plate though... I broke it." She bit her lip slightly at the look Stef and Lena shared at her words. "I can pay you back for it... I don't have much money at the moment, but I'm sure that I could-"

"Forget it." Stef cut her off, her tone firm yet gentle. "The plate doesn't matter. Besides, it wasn't your fault - _someone_ shouldn't have left his skateboard lying around, as he goddamn knows full well." She directed the latter part at Jesus, who had the decency to look down at the ground, shamefacedly.

"Stef!" Lena frowned at her partner, "Language!"

"What?" Her partner responded with a shrug, "I think all things considered, that's the least of our concerns right now."

Lena raised her left eyebrow slightly, but didn't disagree.

Stef opened her mouth to speak but before she got any words out a small whimper caught there attention. Callie had accidentally moved her left elbow, and the pain she'd felt had been too much, hence the whimper that escaped. Instantly both women were by her side, trying to help, and instantly she shrugged them off, strengthening her walls as she pushed them away.

Stef frowned slightly but didn't say anything, and neither did Lena - though the look of hurt that flashed through her eyes spoke volumes. Instead, the blonde turned to her younger son. "Jesus, seeing as your skateboard did the damage, I think you can clear up the mess, okay?" Once he'd nodded, she turned back to the injured teen. "Callie, Sweets, would you mind coming with us? We've got a first aid kit upstairs and I'd very much like to check your injuries."

At Callie's obvious hesitation, the cop sighed. "That wasn't a question, Callie, come on."

Slowly, the teen stood up, reluctantly accepting the hand Lena offered her, and followed the two women upstairs to their bathroom, pausing only to give Jude a reassuring smile, silently telling him there was no need to worry.

Once there, she sat down on the stool Lena offered her, whilst Lena sat next to her on the edge of the bathtub and Stef sat on the toilet lid, medical kit in hand.

"Okay, Honey," Lena smiled, would you mind removing your hoodie, so we can sort out any cuts or grazes you might have gotten?"

Callie stiffened, refusing to do so.

Stef sighed. "Again, Sweets, not a question."

When the teen stubborn continued to refuse, Stef sighed again.

"Okay, Callie, it's like this. Either you show us, so we can help now, or we're going to the A&E and the doctors there will sort it. It's your choice, but I know which one I'd prefer, and I'm pretty sure it'd be the same for you."

Now it was Callie's turn to sigh. She did so with clear frustration, before angrily - if a little awkwardly due to her limited mobility - unzipping her hoodie and tossing it onto the floor.

"There," she snapped, "happy?"

"Ecstatic." Stef shot back, sarcastically. Lena shot her a look, causing her to smile softly at the girl, letting her know she wasn't really mad.

However, her smile quickly vanished as she looked in shock at the state of Callie's arms.

The mottled, dark purple bruises that wrapped around the width of her lower arms were clearly caused by the grip of a person, which meant that someone had done that to the girl sitting in front of her. They were also clearly new - Callie had not had them the day before, Stef clearly recalled she'd worn a t-shirt that day and there'd been no bruising present. In addition, Stef could now properly examine the girl's face, in particular the cuts and grazing that littered her right cheek and the bruising around her cheekbone. As if that wasn't enough, Stef could also see the cause of Callie's pain earlier - her elbow was an angry red and rather swollen. Bordering the joint where even more bruises and a rather nasty looking gash, surrounded by dried blood and a little pus.

Grimacing slightly, Stef glanced at Lena before getting to work, kneeling on the floor beside Callie and cleaning the wound so to reduce the risk of infection.

The three of them sat in silence, Stef cleaning each open wound gently and with the utmost care, Callie watching Stef, and Lena holding the teen's hand, providing the girl with comfort that she was secretly thankful to have.

Only once she was done and every cut, bruise and graze had been checked then double checked, did Stef sit up and share a look with her partner before turning back to the girl.

"Alright, all done." She shot her a smile before her expression turned serious, "So do you think that maybe you should tell us what happened?"

Callie bit her lip, looking from one woman to the other and back again. "I don't suppose that was a question...?"

"Nope, though I'm glad to see you're learning." Stef sent her another small smile, before going into 'Cop-Mode', "So, where do you want to begin?"


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, so once again thank you soooo much for all the reviews, follows and favourites! :D**

 **And as always, please favourite, review or follow if you like it (and PM or review if there's anything extra that you desperately want adding and I'll see what I can do :D )**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING :'(**

 **NOTE: I'm writing part of this on my phone whilst on a bus... Therefore, I apologise in advance for any grammatical and/or spelling errors :3**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

She sat on the stool, the two women on either side of her, desperately wishing to be elsewhere... anywhere else, in fact.

Of course, like all her other wishes, it didn't come true.

Sighing, she looked from Stef to Lena and back again, before biting her lip and running a hand through her hair.

"Okay," she said,"So, erm, what happened was..." She trailed off, frowning.

 _What_ had _happened? What_ exactly _did they want to know? What exactly did_ she _want to tell them?_

"Yes?" Stef probed, reminding the girl that they were waiting for her answer, and removing her from her thoughts.

"Right... Sorry." The teen bit her lip and shot the blonde an apologetic look, before continuing. "Basically, it was just some kid - I guess they heard that I was a foster kid and realised that I was an easy target." She shrugged, silently praying that they'd buy the lies she was telling them.

"Oh yeah, was it somebody from school?"

Lena's words, said with more kindness and care than Callie ever thought she'd receive, filled her with alarm.

In the past, she'd always been able to use kids bullying the new foster kid as an excuse to hide any physical bearings that she'd received from abusive home - in her experience once a teacher or whomever had dared ask found out it was from bullying that ceased to care, instead turning a blind eye to any more injuries she received. However, now Callie was realising that that lie wouldn't work on the two women currently in front of her - particuarly not on Lena who not only worked at the school, but seemed to know everyone there, meaning she'd know if it were happening and who the bully may be.

Quickly, Callie shook her head. "No, they're not from school."

"Are you sure?" Lena asked, er concern evident in her voice, "Because if there is someone there who's being mean then I can have a word with them...?"

"They're not." The teen snapped irritably, before realising her mistake as the two women exchanged looks.

"We're just trying to help, Callie," Stef warned her, "There's no need for any attitude."

The girl sighed and once again ran a hand through her hair. "Sorry," She quietly apologised, "I didn't mean to snap, not when the two of you have been kind enough to help me. I guess I'm just tired - it's kinda been a long day."

At her words, Callie received a sympathetic smile from Lena.

"It's okay, honey, you've told us what happened, so why don't you go to bed - we can always talk more in the morning?"

Stef, however, did not seem to be as fully convinced and so spoke before the girl could accept Lena's offer to escape the current conversation.

"That is," The cop told the girl, "If you're _sure_ that there's _nothing_ else that you want to tell us, nothing else at all?"

One look at Stef's raised eyebrow and expectant expression, and Callie had the horrible feeling that she _knew_.

So she did what _anyone_ would do in her place - she shook her head and smiled apologetically at them.

"Nope, sorry." She shrugged, "G'night then."

Once the two foster mothers had echoed her goodbyes, she quickly left the room, head down in order to avoid meeting either woman's - though particularly Stef's - gaze.

Once she'd closed the door behind her, she paused, not wanting to go any further for fear as to what they knew. So instead of going back to her room, she stayed and listened.

...

"What was that all about, Stef?" Once the teen had left, Lena turned on her wife, "I mean, she told us what she knows!"

"Has she, Lena?" Stef shot back, "Because from where I'm standing it just sounds like a bunch of badly thought out lies."

"What _are_ you on about?!" Lena asked, shooting her partner a look of confusion.

Stef shrugged. "Exactly what I said, Love. We barely know anything about this girl - something she seems determined to keep as it is, might I add - and what we do know... Well it's concerning."

"What's concerning, Stef? That she's clearly been through a lot? That she cares so so much about her younger brother? That she's a vulnerable girl that people think they can just take advantage of?!"

"No, Lena, I was think more about how she's been in Juvie, how she's reckless and impulsive, how she might-" Stef stopped mid-sentence, and sighed. "I think she might be connected to a murder case, Lena."

"What?" Lena's brown eyes widened, her face becoming a picture of shock and disbelief. "Stef! If saying the most pro-findwordhere thing that you can is your way of winning an argument then I swear-"

"Well I wouldn't want you to swear, now would I? It's not a lie, Lena, I'm not just trying to win an argument. Callie... I really think that she might be connected."

Lena slowly sank back into her chair, more than a little stunned. "Well, okay, what do you know? And don't try to say it's police-only stuff - she's in our home, Stef, near our kids. I want to know."

"Okay." With a sigh, Stef agreed.

Then Lena listened as the blonde cop told her everything she knew and everything she had pieced together.

And behind their door, Callie listened too.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey, so thank you so much for the reviews :D**

 **Sorry for the wait - I knew what I wanted to happen in this chapter, but not how to write it :3 Still, hopefully this chapter will make up for it? (maybe? ...It's still kinda short though... :s ) :3**

 **Also, I think I've kinda made Stef a little OOC (though she's not the only one who seems to be) - she seems a little harsher than in the show... whoops :/**

 **Anyhow, here's the next chapter. Please don't forget to favourite, follow and/or review if you like it :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: Yeah... I don't own a thing... At all... Ever.**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

For the first time since hearing about it, Callie was glad to go to her compulsory group session that morning as it gave her an excuse to leave early - which she did so willingly, thankful for a reason to avoid her two foster mums. However, upon seeing the various, all completely unfamiliar, faces looking at her as she hurriedly took her seat, she could barely resist the urge to leave.

Unfortunately, before she could do so, a smiling woman - the therapist, Dr Kodema called out to her, bringing her to the rest of the groups' attention and forcing her to remain in the room.

"Callie, right?" Dr Kodema asked, still smiling as she pointed the girl to the only empty chair left in the circle.

She nodded, returning the therapist's smile with a rather forced looking one - one that was more a grimace than a smile - and sitting down between two foster kids of similar ages to her own.

She didn't pay attention to the session, not to any of the stories some of the other participants shared, nor to the questions that Dr Kodema tried to ask her in an entirely indiscreet attempt to trick the teen into joining in. Instead. she leant back in her seat and just waited for the hour to past.

Unfortunately, with no distractions available, she found her mind wandering back to what she'd heard the previous night.

...

 _Callie stood frozen to the spot as she listened to Stef finish speaking. She couldn't believe how much she'd given away, how much the cop had already figured out - but she also couldn't believe how much was just guess work._

Maybe she wasn't quite so fucked, after all.

 _As though on the same wave length, Lena shifted in her seat, turning to frown at her partner._

 _"So what, you think that a note that_ might _be written by Callie connects her to the death of her and Jude's previous foster father? How does that even make sense to you, Stef? She's a kid - Brandon's age - not some cold blooded criminal!"_

 _"Lena, my love," With a sigh, Stef sat down beside the other woman, "I hate to point out the obvious but she's already been in juvie - for committing a violent act, no less - is it really that hard to believe that she might have -?"_

 _"Yes, Stef! You can't seriously think that!"_

 _Callie frowned slightly at the incredulous tone Lena's voice held._

Why wasn't the woman leaping at the chance to kick her out? And why the _hell_ was she giving the teen the benefit of the doubt?

 _"I'm sorry, Love, but I mean, what do we actually know about these kids?"_

 _"Enough to know they're goodhearted - sure, Callie isn't the warmest of kids but... I mean, I don't believe - I_ can't _believe she's capable of that - not of_ murder."

 _And there it was. The word was finally spoken aloud._

Murder.

 _Up until this point it hadn't been spoken aloud,not at all. Sure, she'd thought it, but the word was so bold, nasty... cruel, that she'd mentally shoved it to the back of her mind, piling something - anything - on top of it until the word was lost in the jumble of her mind._

 _But now it had been spoken, and by the only adults who'd ever shown her any kindness in the world... at all._

 _And the fact that they were the ones to say it - to say it in association with herself - it made her feel physically ill. Like she'd tainted them and their perfect little world. But also as though she'd betrayed them._

 _And that confused her, because she'd never really cared about what her foster parents thought before, she'd never really seen the point. They'd never particularly liked her before - the ones that were considered good homes where were she and her brother were tolerated at best - so she never really thought as to how the foster parents perceived her. But at this house... it actually seemed to matter. And that was totally new to her._

 _"The other day, you told her that she wasn't disposable or worthless. I know you, Stef, you meant what you said. So don't tell me that you've already given up on this girl because the amazing woman that I know and love with all my heart would_ never _give up someone - on a child_ \- so quickly."

 _She'd heard enough. She didn't want to hear them both turn on her, didn't want to hear when she was going to kicked out the house, accompanied by a crying, heartbroken Jude, no doubt. So she left the doorway and went back into Mariana's room. Upon seeing that it was empty - the Latino girl was most likely either in the bathroom or downstairs teasing her brother - she set to work, packing her blue duffel bag with the few items of clothing that she'd only unpacked the other day._

 _It was all she could do to stop herself from crying._

...

"You're Callie, right?"

Her head shot up as she straightened her back at the sound of a different voice, this time one that was directed at her. Looking around at her surroundings, she quickly realised that group had finished , failing to miss the look of disapproval on Dr Kodema's face as she glanced at the teen.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

She turned to the direction of the voice.

A girl who looked to be just a few years younger than her stood awkwardly to the side, her long brown plaits swaying slightly from side to side as she nervously shifted from either foot.

"Yeah," With s small smile, the teen nodded, "I'm Callie."

"Oh good!" The girl grinned, letting out an exaggerated sigh of belief. "This is only my second session, so I'm kinda new here, why is why when my foster brother pointed you out... Well I kinda figured that we could become friends?"

"Erm.." Callie frowned slightly, before shrugging. "Sure, but I still don't know your name...?"

The younger girl's blue eyes widen a little and she laughed awkwardly. "Oh, my mistake! My name's Sarah, Sarah Lewis. I meant to say that to begin with - Liam's always telling me that I should pay more attention to what I'm saying, I guess he's right, huh?"

"Liam?" Callie's frown deepened as she stared in horror at the young girl. " _He's_ your foster brother?!"

"Yes, so?" Sarah questioned, confusion written all over her face. "He said the two to you used to really get on, that you were friends."

"What else did he say?" Morbid curiosity was all that stopped her from running out of the room as fast as she could.

"Nothing much. Just that if I were lucky then I might be able to be his next close friend, but that that will all depend on you."

She wanted to puke. She felt absolutely sick to the core.

 _He was sending her a message - a threat, really._

 _He was checking up on her._

 _He had another girl in that house._

 _She wouldn't let Sarah become her._


	20. Chapter 20

**Wow, I can't believe we're on chapter twenty! xD**

 **So I hope you guys like this chapter and that you favourite, follow and review if you do (and without sounding like a whining brat, may I ask for more than one review on this upload... if that's okay Like, even if you don't like this chapter - let me know. It's the only way I can improve and adjust the story for you guys. Okay? Good, mini-rant over ).**

 **Unfortunately, I don't think this chapter is going to be particularly long... at all :3**

 **NOTE: I ended up having to write part of this on my phone because the wifi connection on my laptop is really dodgy & keeps disconnecting (I've ended up rewriting part of this about seven times now :/), so sorry but it's kinda likely that there's going to be a couple of mistokes (:p) in here...**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own zilch**

 **Chapter Twenty**

Though she may not have admitted it aloud, Stef felt stupid after her talk wit Lena. As she'd gotten into bed, she'd mentally scolded herself, no longer sure how she'd gotten to such a preposterous theory so quickly.

 _Callie a murderer? As if!_

It seemed so silly now, so illogical, that Stef was genuinely having trouble working out how she'd arrived at that conclusion in the first place. Sighing, she turned over in her bed to face her partner.

"You're right." She spoke so softly, so quietly that at first she did not think Lena had heard her - in deed the woman opposite her gave no indication that she had - but then Lena's eyes opened and she smiled as she stretched slightly, shifting her pillows so she could sit up and talk to the blonde.

"I was?" She didn't have to ask to know what Stef was talking about.

"You always are." Stef replied in a teasing manner before leaning forward to kiss her.

"And don't you forget it." Mirroring Stef's tone, Lena wriggled in the bed, pulling their duvet up around her as she cuddled her partner. "So Stefanie Foster finally admits to being wrong... How do we proceed?"

Stef pouted, sticking out her lip in an exaggerated fashion, as she wrapped an arm around Lena, Resting her chin on the brunette's head. "I didn't exactly say that I was wrong..." She murmured, before continuing at her voice's usual volume, "But we do need to talk to Callie tomorrow - I think she might have overheard us earlier..."

"Hmmm," Lena nodded, "I thought I heard someone out in the hallway, I guess that answers that then."

"Yeah, which means not only have I made a fool of myself in front of you, but now a kid who lives under our roof thinks that I hate her."

"I'm sure she'll understand. We'll talk to her in the morning. And as for me, I already know that you're a fool - particularly when it comes to protecting your family. That's why you're the Mama Tiger and I love you for that." She leant up to quickly peck Stef's lips. "I do think that as well as talking to Callie in the morning, some one-on-one activities with her and Jude might be a good idea - it'll really give them an opportunity to open up to us."

"Mmmmm," Closing her eyes, Stef cuddled her partner. "I love you too." She murmured, exhausted as her tired mind was finally given a chance to rest. "But you forgot to add that getting to know them will stop me from jumping to conclusions regarding them." She opened her eyes to look at Lena, who in turn gave Stef the most innocent look that she could muster. "That said," She muttered, "You are right."

"Again."

"Again."

With a quick kiss, the two women continued to cuddle, both happy to wait and see what the next day brought with it.

...

Stef sat in the car park, impatiently tapping her hand on the steering wheel as she waited. Having woken up the next morning to find that the teen had already left, it had quickly been decided that Stef would go to pick her up and use the car journey home as an excuse to talk to the girl.

However, it was now half twelve - twenty minutes after the session was meant to have finished and the girl was yet to appear from within the building's walls.

Sighing, Stef got out her phone and sent the teen a quick, short text message in the hopes that doing so would prompt her to get a move on, before opening her door and getting out in order to stretch her legs.

As she waited, the cop found herself playing a game of people-spotting, watching random strangers go about their daily lives and making up lives for them. It had been a favourite travel game of hers when she was younger and right then it seemed to quell her boredom, at least a little.

It was because of that game that she saw what happened next. A relatively tall man - about 20 years old with short blonde hair and rather muscular build - angrily strode across the car park towards the building, which he then entered via the archway, violently jabbing buttons on his phone as he sent a message.

Stef frowned slightly as she watched him go, wondering what had made him so cross.

 _Work? A girlfriend? Boyfriend? Parent?_

She probably wouldn't have thought anything else of it, but then the shouting began. Without a minutes hesitation, she sprinted in the direction he'd gone, knowing that he couldn't have gotten too far.

Sure enough, just past the archway, near to a fountain, the man stood, a young teen by his side, yelling at someone.

 _No_ , Stef corrected herself, _Not just someone - Callie._

The teen stood with her back to the wall, desperately trying to appear unafraid as the man pined her against the wall.

 _"_ Hey!" Stef yelled loudly, forcing the man's attention from her foster-daughter and onto her. "Hey, is there a problem here? Only I'm a cop, so do you want any help or do you want to leave?"

The man looked from Stef to Callie and back again, before shrugging and releasing his hold on her. "Whatever." He rolled his eyes impatiently, "Sarah, do you want a lift home or not?" Without waiting for a response he left, the young girl quickly following after him.

Stef watched him go with a frown before turning she attention onto Callie. "Are you okay, Love?"

"What do you think?!" To her surprise, the teen glared at the cop not bothering to properly answer the question before heading for the car park

"Well, jeez, a thank you would suffice." Step muttered under her breath.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Callie scoffed, "Why would I thank you - you've just made everything so much worse!"

And with that she quickened her pace, leaving Stef dumbfounded behind her.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys, so I am so so sooo sorry that it's taken this long to update. In al honesty, I was struggling to figure out what should happen next - by which I mean that I have a plan but getting there is the difficult part :3 Still, here's chapter twenty-one (finally) and I once again apologise for the lateness of it (sorry!).**

 **As always, thank you to all you lovely people who favourite, followed or reviewed last chapter! :) Please feel free to do the sae with this one ad know that all feedback is greatly appreciated (as well as guesses as to where this is heading!). Okay, thanks!**

 **And without further ado, onwards with the chapter!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Fosters, nor will I ever do so... it's unfortunate but the truth *deep sigh* :'(**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

It didn't take Stef long to find Callie. The teen had barely got to the end of the road before she'd collapsed to the floor, sobbing noisily as she held herself.

Without a moment's hesitation, Stef knelt down and wrapped her arms around her, giving her comfort. For the first time since living with them, Callie didn't object. But then again, Stef wasn't sure if the girl was even aware that the blonde was holding her.

"Oh Sweets, Sweets it's okay." As the cop rested her cheek on top of Callie's head, steadily rocking from side to side in an effort to soothe the crying teen, she was briefly reminded of doing the same for each of her kids during their lives; Brandon as a baby when he was being fussy, Jesus after he'd fallen from his skateboard as an energetic ten year old, and Mariana as a shy eight year old after a particularly bad dream. _And now with Callie, after an encounter with that man..._

Frowning, Stef reminded herself of the reason for the current situation that she'd found herself in. Stilling her movements, she straightened up slightly, so she was sitting cross-legged on the pavement, and then pulled Callie close to her once again. This time, however, she was met with some resistance.

"Please, Sweets."

The girl shook her head and quickly wiped away her tears, reluctant to be comforted by the cop... _Particularly as she still thinks I'm a murderer._

Stef sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay," She said, "You don't have to hug me or anything, I just wanted to keep you close - I want to make sure that you're okay, Sweets."

"Bullshit."

"Language, Sweets. You can be upset with me - that's fine - but you don't swear, you continue to respect the house rule, understood?"

"We're not in the house."

Once again, Stef sighed, but this time she found herself struggling to stay calm - the girl was just as stubborn as she was and seemed to be gifted as pushing all of her buttons. "You know what I mean, Sweets."

"Stop fucking calling me Sweets!" Angrily, Callie faced the cop, her annoyance at the term of endearment being used very much clear.

Stef simply raised an eyebrow. "Okay," She said, "Well then, if you watch your language, then I won't call you, Sweets, okay?"

Callie narrowed her eyes, trying to work out Stef's plan. "Fine," She eventually responded, "But you can't use any pet-names - I'm not your damn kid!"

To her credit, Stef decided against pointing out the girl's choice of words and instead nodded. "Deal."

The two shook hands, before each faced forwards, pointlessly staring ahead at the street opposite, each stubbornly waiting for the other to speak.

Eventually, Stef cracked, knowing that it would be silly to stay on the side of the road indefinitely. "So, how come you don't think that I care about whether or not you're okay?"

Callie scoffed loudly and let out a dry, humourless chuckle, "You're kidding, right?" She asked, "How have yo given me any other opinion? You hate me. Sure, you haven't beaten me or locked me in the cellar or anything, but it's pretty clear that you don't like me - so why should I believe that you suddenly care about me?!"

Stef frowned at that, not liking how the girl beside her seemed to perceive her, "I don't... I don't dislike you." She said after a minute of silence, "I don't. I'm sorry that you thought that I did - I would never intentionally make someone feel unwelcome... or uncared for."

"You didn't... You didn't make me feel _completely_ unwelcome, just like you didn't trust me, y'know?" Callie bit her lip, diverting her attention away from the blonde. Stef frowned slightly, carefully watching the girl as she tried to figure out exactly what she'd meant be that.

"You heard." She knew she'd came to the right conclusion when the teen's body stiffened. "Oh Love, I didn't mean it! As soon as I voiced my theory, I realised how stupid it sounded. I know that you're not a murderer, Callie, you're a sweet girl who cares so _sooo_ much for her brother, and could never do something so... _evil_."

"You know I've been in juvie, right?" Callie looked at her, her brown eyes completely dead, "How much do you _really_ know about me?"

"Enough, I know enough." Stef smiled softly at the teen. "I know that you're not a murderer, Callie, so don't try pretending otherwise - it won't work. I'm so sorry that you heard me in my moment of madness, I'll try to control it better next time."

Both fell silent for a couple of minutes, until Stef spoke again.

"Swee-" At Callie's warning look, she quickly corrected herself, "Callie, I'm sorry but I've got to ask - who was that man? Did he hurt you? What did he want?"

Callie shrugged, shifting slightly on the cold, uncomfortable pavement slab. "That was Liam. He was an old foster brother that I had. I guess that he doesn't like me much either." She shot Stef a dry smile and shrugged again, "I have no clue what he wanted."

 _It amazed her how good she'd gotten at lying. Like she didn't know. He wanted to threaten her with Sarah - tell or do anything stupid and she'd get the same treatment that she herself had received whilst residing in the Olmstead household._

"Oh yeah, and does this Liam guy have a surname?"

At that, Callie shook her head in an almost frantic fashion. "Don't." She said, "Please, Stef, don't."

"Cals, I'm an officer, I shouldn't let him get away with threatening you - and don't deny it, he had you against a wall and you're clearly shaken up from it."

"JUST LEAVE IT!" Standing up, Callie glared at her foster mother, "Why can't you just do that?! Look, it doesn't matter - _he_ doesn't matter, so please, just leave it."

Stef sighed, but slowly nodded her head. "Okay. I'll leave it... _If_ you answer one more question for me..."

"Sure." Relieved that Stef was going to drop the subject, Callie didn't think twice about agreeing to the cop's terms.

"Was Liam the 'Kid' who gave you those bruises yesterday?"

"No." Callie bit her lip, before looking away from Stef and quietly adding to her answer. "But his cousin was."


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, so thank you all again for the reviews, favourites and follows - I really, honestly appreciate them! XD**

 **Hopefully this chapter will be okay and please feel free to review it as well as to follow/favourite if you're enjoying it! :D**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own a thing... and that's the sad sad truth :'(**

 **EDITED: 06/07/16**

 **Chapter Twenty-Two**

To her credit, Stef tried to remain calm as she waited for the teen to elaborate. However, after five minutes of complete silence, the cop realised that she was going to have to pry in order to understand what Callie meant.

"His cousin?" She questioned, "Honey, you told Lena and I that you didn't know who'd hurt you... What does this man and his family have to do with it?"

Callie shrugged, reluctant to speak and bowed her head, choosing to stare at her clasped hands which sat on her lap. Unfortunately though, Stef wasn't having that, not now there was a chance that her foster daughter could be in danger.

"I'm going to need you to answer me, Sweets." She told the girl, her voice kind but stern, "So you can either tell me privately as your Foster Mom, or I can take you down to the precinct and make an official complaint - in which you'll have to make a statement explaining the situation to everyone there. It's your choice."

"I can't." The words were spoken so softly, so quietly, that Stef almost didn't hear them.

"What?" She frowned in confusion at the teen, "What do you mean?"

With a sigh, Callie look up from her hands, "I mean that I can't." She repeated, this time a lot louder and firmer.

"Sweets..."

"No!" With a yell, Callie angrily unbuckled her seat-belt and pushed open the car door. "You don't understand - _I can't!"_

Standing tall, she glared at the still-sitting woman. "And can you _STOP_ fucking calling me ' _SWEETS_ '?!"

"No." Exiting the car, Stef turned to face the furious teen, her own anger slowly building up, "No, I won't. Because _I'm_ the adult, and _I'm_ in charge here. So you can yell to high heaven for all I care, but you don't get to dictate what I do or don't do, understood?"

When Callie remained silent, Stef raised an eyebrow and shot the girl a warning look. "I said; understood?"

Miserably, Callie nodded.

"Good. Now we are going to go inside and I'm going to have a drink of tea with Lena whilst you use that time to calm down. _Then_ , you are going to go to my room and wait there for Lena and I to join you. I think it's high time that we had a talk - a _proper_ talk this time, _without_ any missing details, _is that clear_?!"

Again, Callie just nodded.

...

She couldn't believe that Stef was going to make her talk, it wasn't fair, or even right. Did she not realise what sort of trouble it'd get her into?

 _Of course she doesn't - you haven't told her!_

Sighing, Callie ran a hand through her hair, desperately trying to collect her thoughts.

She couldn't tell them, it'd cause so many problems..

 _She'd definitely get removed from the house... And most likely arrested._

 _Jude would also be removed, but this time he wouldn't have her to protect him at the next home he landed in._

 _Toby would be furious and would most likely tell Liam..._

 _...Who in turn would hurt Sarah._

She couldn't let that happen, she wouldn't, not ever.

So basically, she was stuck.

...

Stef and Lena were already in their room when she knocked on the door. Opening it slowly, she cautiously stuck her head around, letting them know who it was.

"Come in, Sweets." Stef smiled at her, no trace of remaining anger evident in her voice, as she patted a spot on the bed between the two women.

Nervously, Callie went over to the bed but didn't go to the spot the two women had assigned for her, instead choosing to perch at the end of the bed as she desperately tried to keep as much distance between her and them as possible. Both women noticed this, but decided that right then was not the time to address it.

"Well, Callie," After several minutes of silence, Stef found herself breaking it once more, "I was just telling Lena in on about what happened earlier - or what I know about it. So, now that we're both on the same page, do you want to fill us in?"

When Callie made no sign as to say anything, Stef sighed, "That wasn't a question."

Now it was Callie's turn to sigh. "I don't know what else to tell you," she shrugged, both her face and voice void of any emotion, "It was nothing."

"Callie..." Stef began, only to be cut off by Lena, who placed a hand on top of her partner's, silently reminding the blonde to keep her cool.

"What Stef is trying to say, is that we know that it wasn't nothing and we want to help you - but in order to do that, you have to co-operate and explain to us what happened."

" _I can't!_ " As soon as the words left her mouth, Callie wanted to take them back. Unlike in the car, this time they were said with so much emotion - so much distress - that it was very much clear that something was up.

 _And now there was no chance of either woman dropping it. Great. Well fucking done._

"What do you mean you can't?!" Ignoring Lena's look of warning, she couldn't help the question from escaping her mouth.

"Nothing. I-" Trailing off, Callie shrugged, "It's nothing. There's just nothing to say."

"Yeah right." Stef scoffed loudly, "Pull the other one."

"Look, what do you want me to say?!" Standing up, Callie could feel herself becoming agitated under the cop's insistent questioning.

"THE TRUTH!" Like Callie, Stef found herself standing and, like Callie, her anger was getting the better of her. "Just tell the truth. No more evading the answer, no more lies. Just answer me!"

"Well then ask a fucking question, don't just yell at me to explain myself."

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

Both stood nose to nose, angrily glaring at one another.

"That's enough!" They turned as Lena frowned at them, disapproval written all over her body. "Now both of you take a step back and _calm_ _down_."

Meekly, both blonde and brunette did as they were told.

"Alright, now - if you're calm - can all please sit back down and discuss this without any raised voices."

"Yes, Lena."

"Sorry, Love."

Quietly, they sat and the conversation continued once more - this time with both teen and cop acting a little more subdued.

"Alright, now Callie," Lena turned to look directly at the girl in question, "How about we start by talking about _what_ has you so worried?"

Callie bit her lip, still hesistant to mention Liam, Sarah or Toby.

 _After all, she didn't even know these people - not well, anyway. What was to stop them from chucking her out of the house once they found out about Liam and what he'd done? Who's to say that they'd even_ want _to help Sarah? And how would they react when they found out about what she'd done and what Toby was, as a result, threatening? Why should she trust them when everybody that she ever had had let her down in some way?_

As though sensing her thoughts, Lena smiled at her and reached out to hold on of her hands. "You know that you can trust us, right? Nothing you say will stop us from caring and looking after you."

"She's right, Sweets," Stef agreed, taking her other hand and holding it tightly, their previous argument already forgiven, "Don't let any fear of being removed stop you from telling us. We'll protect you, we'll support you, and all we ask is that you trust us."

"You won't when you know. You'll want me gone faster than you can say 'fuck up'."

Lena winced and Stef frowned at her choice of language, but neither mentioned it.

"No we won't, of course we won't. You're not indispensable, Callie, and the sooner you realise that, the better."

"Oh yeah?" Callie raised an eyebrow, a lazy smirk stretching across her lips as she closed herself off. Looking Stef dead in the eye, she knew her own had gone emotionless and cold as she waited for the cop's reaction. "What if I told you that you were right? What if I told you that that note - you know which one I'm on about - was written by me?"

A shocked silence held the three of them hostage as each was hit by her words.

Stef's eyes widened and a look of shock appeared on her face, and she found herself utterly speechless.

 _She'd been right, but... No, she couldn't be - surely, she must have heard Callie wrong?_

Lena's thoughts - usually so fast when it came to processing things - seemed to have came to a standstill, as she too desperately hoped that _somehow_ she'd heard the teen wrong.

 _Stef had been right all along - I brought a_ murderer _into our house..._

Callie felt a wave of hopelessness overcome her as she realised what she'd just said - what she'd just _admitted._

 _She'd_ really _screwed up now..._

"That's not..." Stef started, disbelief colouring her words as she broke the silence. Shaking her head, she trailed off. "You can't have..."

"But I did." Even to herself, Callie's voice sounded hollow, "I wrote the note. I hid the body... My foster father died because of me."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, so thank you all for the many reviews, favourites and follows! I can't believe the number of reviews is now in the 90's! O.o**

 **This chapter is rather short, but it's been so long and I've really struggled to add more, so hopefully it'll be okay...**

 **As always, please review, favourite or follow this story. And feel free to leave feedback (positive or negative it's always welcome) either as a review or by PM-ing me :)**

 **I hope you enjoy reading this and... yeah :D**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. At all. Ever.**

 **NOTE: I edited chapter 22 ever so slightly. I don't think it makes _too_ much difference, but you may want to read it anyway... so yeah. :s**

 **Chapter Twenty-Three**

Stef stared, open-mouthed, at the girl in front of her.

The girl, who had just admitted to murder - or at the very least had just admitted to being an _accessory_ to murder.

"Sorry?" She frowned slightly, "I think I might have misheard you...?"

"No you didn't." The teen's voice was monotonous as she finally resigned herself to her fate. "You heard me fine. So now what - are you going to arrest me?"

There was no bitterness in her question, in fact, it was a though she'd completely given up.

"I..." Stef trailed off, her frown deepening. "I should," She said slowly, taking great care in picking the words that she used. Standing up, she started to pace the room. "But first I want you to explain what _exactly_ happened - and this time you can't leave out _anything_."

Callie scowled at her words. "What else is there to tell?!" She questioned angrily. "I confessed. You were right. You... You won."

"Won?" Ignoring her other words, Stef's expression softened as she looked - _really looked -_ at the frightened young girl before her. Kneeling, she picked up the teen's hands and held them, her thumbs rubbing reassuring circles on them as she met Callie's eyes. "Love, I haven't _won_ anything - if anything I may have just _lost_ the chance to get to know the wonderful girl in front of me."

"Yeah, right." With a loud scoff, Callie yanked her hands away from the blonde and rolled her eyes. "It's no loss, trust me - I'm not _wonderful,_ not in any way. I'm just a goddamn screw up." She blinked hard, desperately trying to stop any of the tears building up in her eyes from escaping.

"NO you're not." Shaking her head, Lena spoke for the first time since Callie's confession, before joining her partner on the floor. "You're anything but. You are an amazing girl, Callie, one who is strong and determined. Someone who cares more about her younger brother than anyone or anything else in the world. Now we're going to figure this out, and we'll do it as a family - _together_. You're not alone here, so, please, let us help you."

Callie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Tilting her head up, she avoided looking at either women as she attempted to collect her thought and, only once they were in order, did she look back down and finally meet both foster moms' eyes.

"The thing is," She said slowly, "We're _not_ a family. So don't try feeding me that work-it-out-together crap."

Lena's face fell at her words, whilst Stef simply shot the teen a warning look. However neither spoke and so Callie continued.

"If I tell you - _if -_ then can you just promise me that Jude will be looked after. He doesn't deserve to be put through more shit and I... I just couldn't forgive myself if he ended up in a crappy situation and I couldn't help or protect him. So please, promise?"

"Sure, Love, of course." Stef nodded, sending the girl a small, kind smile.

"Jude isn't going anywhere - and neither are you, not if we can help it."

"Okay." With a cautious nod, Callie sat up a little straighter and sucked in a deep breathe as she prepared to explain everything to the two women. "Well, in that case, then I may as well tell you..."

Both women moved back to the bed and Stef sat next to Callie, with Lena next to the cop. Both listened, every now and then interrupting in order to ask a question as the teen spoke.

By the end, Callie felt absolutely exhausted and her two foster mothers were pretty much the same, all three of them emotionally drained. At some point, Callie had found herself seeking comfort from Stef and so once she'd finished, her head was consequently in the blonde's lap, with her hair spread around them as a result of Lena gently running her fingers through it. Tear tracks stained all three of their faces.

As both women met each other's gaze other the teen's head, they knew that there was no way they were letting Callie go without a fight.

 _There was no way they would let her suffer even more._

 _They were going to fight for her, because it was high time she got some support an_ _d no body else seemed to want to._

 **Hey, so I know that I don't usually do A/Ns at the end of a chapter but... well, two things;**

 **One - I'm not too sure about the ending of this chapter... it seems a little rushed and just... I don't know, off? As a result, I might change it at a later date, but for now I really can't think of a better one, so it'll have to do :s**

 **Two - it's getting to the point where the story's starting to end... sort of (not without complications) and I'm not sure whether to stick with my original ending - which is kind of open-ended and not really all that conclusive - or to go down another route and have a more certain, definite ending for it... Thoughts?**

 **Well that's all, thank you to anyone who has any suggestions, as well as to any lovely people who chose to review, favourite or follow (hint, hint ;p )...**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey, I am so so soooo sorry that it's taken me so long to update this story - I've just been really busy lately and so writing kinda got put on the back burner... (whoops!)... To be honest, I'm not completely happy with this chapter, and it's mainly just going over what happened last chapter (sorry, again!) but I really just wanted to get something up - partly to see if anybody's still interested in this story and partly in order to try and get myself interested in it again :/**

 **However, on the upside... HOLY MACARONI, 100 REVIEWS?! I cannot begin to express who happy that makes me! Seriously, thanks! And thank you for the 49 favourites and 88 follows also xD**

 **Anyhow, on with the story!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, nor will I ever. In addition I do not encourage murder, nor should anything in this story be used as advice in getting away with it (probably not necessary to write down, but better safe than sorry, eh?)**

 **Oh, also, this chapter has kinda strong language... I guess that I should probably mention that (that reminds me, I'm not entirely sure if this story should be classified as a T or an M... I mean I know that it contains murder and swears a little, but I'm not sure how likely it is to offend people/if the violence is detailed enough to be considered M... thoughts?)**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

 _She was an idiot. An absolute fucking idiot. How the fuck did she think that telling them would be a good idea? And why the fuck did she?!_

Slamming her head backwards, Callie didn't even wince at the sharp pain that surged through her skull as it made contact with the hard, solid wall beside her bed. Instead, she repeated the action once, twice, three times, desperately trying to come up with some sort of plan - _she had to escape whilst she still could._

After all, considering what Stef and Lena now knew, she very much doubted that she'd be at this home for very long - if by some miracle they didn't kick her out, well then she was pretty darn sure that she was facing prison time... _Like father like daughter, eh?_

Sighing, she ran a hand through her messy brown hair, trying to figure out when exactly everything went wrong... _Was it before or after John Pritchard had ended up with half a bottle stuck in his head?_

 _Hell, was it before or after her father thought he was okay to drive himself and her mother home?_

She didn't know.

And honestly, it didn't really matter. After all, her life had been so shit for just about as long as she could remember, why the fuck should she expect it be any other way? Besides, she'd learnt a long time ago that it was better not to expect anything... or at least nothing good. _That way you wouldn't be disappointed._

With another sigh, she sat up and stretched. Standing up, she was grateful for the fact that nobody was around to see her meltdown; Mariana was at her friend, Lexi's; Brandon was practicing his piano and so enthralled by his music; Jesus was out in the garden, shooting hoops; and Jude was helping their foster mothers prepare lunch. After their lengthy conversation, the two moms had allowed her to seek solitude in her bedroom, though they promised that the conversation was not fully over - a fact that both filled Callie with dread and relief.

 _..._

 _The conversation... Huh... she considered it to be more of a confession._

Pausing at the door, hand half-way to the handle, her thoughts were cast back to what was said less than an hour before.

 _Callie sat up a little straighter and sucked in a deep breathe as she prepared to explain everything to the two women. "Well, in that case, then I may as well tell you..."_

 _Both women moved back to the bed and Stef sat next to Callie, with Lena next to the cop, as both waited for the teen to begin._

 _"So, the thing is my old foster father, John, he wasn't very nice. He used to... well hit me. But that was okay, I could take it, but then he started on Jude and that... that wasn't right. So one day, one day he catches Jude dressing up in his ex-wife's dress and he goes ballistic. Absolutely fucking crazy. He starts beating Jude and I tried to stop him - I really, really did - but I can't. I was so scared that he was going to hurt him - and I mean_ really _hurt him - that I decided that I had to do something. So I grabbed the first heavy thing that I could find, and used it to hit his precious camaro... He called the cops and I ended up in Juvie because why the fuck would they listen to a foster kid over an adult? He told them that I went berserk over something and they believed him. So whilst I stopped him from beating Jude at that moment, I failed to protect him properly."_

 _"Honey, that's-"_

 _"Let me continue." Refusing to let her tears spill, Callie met Lena's eyes with a quiet determination. With a soft smile and small nod, Lena stopped mid-sentence, allowing the teen to continue._

 _"So whilst I was in Juvie, I didn't really get to see or talk to him and I was so worried... So, so worried. I tried to tell Bill, I tried to explain what had happened, but he was busy with all the other kids he's in charge of - I guess it's easier for social workers to focus on the kids that actually have a chance of getting adopted than those who are too much hassle - and didn't bother to do anything. Then my time was up and I got to go back there, got to see Jude again... But I also got to see his bruises. And seeing those made me so mad, so angry... But there was nothing that I could do."_

 _A fat tear rolled down her cheek as she refused to meet both women's gazes, and she made no attempt to wipe it away. Reaching out, Stef played with a strand of the girl's hair, silently reassuring her and encouraging her to continue._

 _"Then a few days later, he got so mad... I think he was going to kill me. He'd been in a bad mood since I'd came back, but that morning was way worse. I think he might have already been drunk, and he was definitely pissed that I didn't have enough time finish all our chores the day before. I tried to explain that we'd had at school and had gone to get groceries afterwards, but he just got even more angry - I guess that I should have remembered that most foster parents don't really like to be reasoned with. So then he's yelling at me, calling me a fucking bitch and all that crap and I sorta end up yelling back - there's only so much that you can take before you have to make a stand, y'know? And then... And then he's hitting me, yelling - no,_ screaming - _at me, and I can't remember how, but I end up against the wall and he's... he's strangling me. His hand pressing right against my neck, pushing me against the wall, and my sides are hurting because he must have kicked me there at some point."_

 _She'd ended up with her head resting on Stef's lap by this point, and both woman are now stroking her hair - though Lena's hands stilled as Callie described the violence._

 _"Oh Sweets." Stef whispered, but her term of endearment only made the teen stiffen slightly. Sighing, the cop returned to stroking her hair and after a moment the teen continued._

 _"He stopped. He let go of me. But only after I traded my life for his - only after I killed him. It was the only way. It was the only way." She repeated the last sentence softly, more tears running freely down her cheeks as she chewed nervously at her bottom lip._

 _"Self defense. You could have pleaded self defense." With another sigh, Stef was back into cop-mode. "So why did you burn the body?"_

 _"Nobody would have believed me. I couldn't be separated from Jude - he'd have no one, and I couldn't do that to him. He needs my protection and I need him. That's how it's always been."_

 _"Oh Callie." Like her partner, Lena let out a deep sigh, her voice full of sympathy for the girl._

 _The teen in question made no sign that she'd heard her, instead sniffing slightly as she continued to cry._

 _"I couldn't be separated from him."_

...

Her hand made contact with the handle, jolting her from her thoughts. Walking downstairs, she offered her two foster mothers a small smile before sitting down at the counter and silently watching as Jude darted around the kitchen, excitedly bringing stuff to the two women as they happily cooked together. As she watched him, it occurred to her that he'd settled in to the household surprisingly easily - certainly it was a lot faster than usual. In fact, she'd almost go as far as to say that he looked as though he belonged there - in a stable home with two doting parents, a bundle of siblings and a supportive environment. He looked happy.

 _"I couldn't be separated from Jude - he'd have no one, and I couldn't do that to him. He needs my protection and I need him."_

Maybe she'd been wrong when she'd said that. MAybe, without her realising it, that statement had been a lie.

 _"I couldn't be separated from Jude - he'd have no one, and I couldn't do that to him. He needs my protection and I need him."_

Maybe didn't need protecting here - it was clear that he was safe... That he was loved.

 _"I couldn't be separated from Jude - he'd have no one, and I couldn't do that to him. He needs my protection and I need him."_

Maybe she was just being selfish. Maybe he'd be better off without him.

 _"I couldn't be separated from Jude - he'd have no one, and I couldn't do that to him. He needs my protection and I need him."_

Maybe she now knew what to do... But only if she was prepared to do what was right.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello, so long time, no writing, huh?**

 **I'm terribly sorry.. And of course the fact that this is super short probably takes the biscuit. Again, I can only apologise.**

 **I don't really have any excuses. In all honesty I haven't been sure of what to write or happy with some of the stuff here. However, was suddenly struck by a it's-time-to-write-and-write-and-write mood today and so, lo-and-behold, some writing. Of course you may be scratching your heads, wondering when exactly you shall be reading something worthwhile here, well...** **it turns out that I finished editing everything pretty quickly... as and so this has changed from a massive apology to the next update.**

 **Please note: I've gone through and edited/tweaked each chapter and one of the things that I've done is changed the foster dad's name from "John Pritchard" to the actual name of "Jim Pearson". Now I think I found them all, but I couldn't do a search-and-replace, so I'm not 100% sure. Therefore, if you see any please let me know. (Also, can we just take a minute to say that it's pretty cool - personally, to me in a totally that's-not-actually-cool sort of a way - that the name I chose was sort of similar to the actual name...Well, he ended up with the same initials...)**

 **Okay, well enough time wasting, here's the next chapter (you've waited long enough)!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

She didn't get very far before she regretted her decision.

In fact, she barely got past the front door. That was the moment when she first hesitated.

 _Think about what you're doing - is this really a good idea?_

She shook her head, readjusted her bag and turned the handle.

Think _about what you're doing - is this really a good idea?_

She walked down the pathway to the pavement and headed down the road.

 _Think about what you're doing - is this really a good idea?_

She turned the corner, kept walking. If she stopped then she'd end up turning back.

 _Think about what you're doing - is this really a good idea?_

She stopped.

She turned.

She took a step back towards the one house she'd felt safe in.

She stopped again.

 _Think about what you're doing - is this really a good idea?_

She wasn't sure.

She stood still for a moment, unsure as to what her next move should be - as much as she wanted to stay at the Fosters', she knew she couldn't. _Besides,_ she reasoned with herself, _even if I did go back, it's not like I'll be there much longer - there's no way that I can avoid the consequences of what I told them._

A single tear fell down her cheek as she turned once more and headed back down the street.

...


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey, so next chapter already, huh? Well I figured after taking so long to previously update and then only writing a pathetically short piece I kinda owe ya :p**

 **So... yeah... You know the drill if you like it, please follow/favourite/review. If not, let me know how to improve it and I'll do my darndest xD**

 **Sooo, yeah xD**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nought**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

Stef knew something was wrong the second she opened her eyes that morning. In fact, truth be told, she'd thought that there was something wrong the evening prior - but she'd quickly dismissed the notion, assuring herself that it was simply due to her head still reeling from Callie's confession.

Then as she's laid in bed, staring at the ceiling as she tried desperately to fall asleep, she'd realised something - during her confession, the teen had spoke about how _she_ had killed her foster father, and yet whilst the note from the beach had admitted to being there, the author had _specifically_ stated that they _hadn't_ been the one to do the killing. One way or another, the girl had lied.

For a moment, she'd been tempted to get out of bed right then an confront her, but logic dictated that that was not an advisable course of action; after all not only was the time inappropriate, but it would no doubt disturb the ever-curious Miss Thing, and Stef would certainly prefer that Callie's admission was not made public to the rest of the household.

Of course now, as she stared at the empty, neatly made - and clearly unslept in - bed of said foster daughter, she wanted to kick herself for failing to act upon it.

"I don't get it, why would she have...?" Trailing off, Lena pursed her lips as she tried to collect her thoughts. "She must know that it's not going to help."

Stef closed her eyes and lent her head against the door frame. "Of course she knows that," She told her partner, exasperation at the teen's actions leaking into her voice, "But she was already scared and now that we know what happened, she probably feels even more so. I just can't believe she - _I mean what was she thinking -_ Running away? That's not the answer. In fact it's one of the _worse_ possible decisions she could have made. I mean, how do you think it'll look in court? She won't look _innocent_ or _regretful,_ that's for sure."

"But as you said, she's scared." Lena gently reminded the cop, "And probably not thinking clearly."

"Yes my love, I realise that," With a sigh, Stef turned to smile at Lena. However, the smile quickly faded to be replaced with a look of worry. "But last time she 'wasn't thinking clearly' she decided to hide a body instead of admit to what had happened because she was worried about the consequences what do you think she'll do now that we know what happened?"

Lena frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Stef replied, her face serious, "Clearly she doesn't have good judgement when she's stressed, and right now... Right now she's definitely panicking. There's no way she'll be thinking her choices through."

 **...**

She wasn't sure why she'd came here - she knew that it would only end badly.

After all, last time she'd accepted his help she'd ended up in a vicious circle of threats and blackmail. But she wasn't sure what to do, or where to go - and she was desperate. As a result she'd came here.

Knocking on the door, she didn't get enough time to properly compose herself before it opened. With a huge, utterly fake smile plastered on her face, she swallowed nervously as the person in front of her glowered down at her.

"Hi!" She chirped. However she didn't get a chance to say anything else before he's slammed her against the side of the house, holding her by her throat.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing here?"

 **...**

It quickly grew apparent to Stef and Lena that Callie's absence had not gone unnoticed to the remaining children. Between the silent looks the older teens shot each other and the constant reassurance that Jude received, it was clear that they all knew. With a sigh, Stef hollered for them all as a meeting at the kitchen table was quickly established.

"Alright, so nobody knows where she might be?" A look around the table at their clueless faces, Stef sighed again, "Right, well when was the last time any of you saw her - Miss Thing?"

Mariana simply shrugged. "Last night I suppose. She seemed kinda quiet when she came back from being in your room, but I just figured that she was in a ood or had gotten told off or something."

"Wha-?" Stef began, a frown on her face.

"Face it, mom, usually you and Mama only really speak to one of us alone if we're in trouble and you don't want everyone else finding out, and Callie was speaking to the two of you for a _long_ time." With a roll of her eyes, Mariana shrugged again.

"That's not... That's not really the point of this discussion, Mariana."

"Yes, so what about the rest of you, when did you guys last see her?" With a smile, Lena turned the conversation to the three boys. At Brandon and Jesus''s shrugs, she sighed. "Okay, well you three might as well go - I'm sure there's some homework that needs completing."

She waited for the three teens to leave the room, before looking at the remaining child. "Jude? When did you last see her?"

The young boy shrugged, avoiding either foster parents' gaze as he stared determinedly at the wooden table. "I don't know," He eventually whispered, "But she didn't sneak in to read me a story."

"Sneak in?" Now it was Lena's turn to frown. "What d'you mean?"

"She usually comes and read me a story, or I mean I'll sometimes read with her - I'm not a baby. She always tells me that we have to be quiet because I'm not meant to be up so late, but it's hard to fall asleep without one. Besides, it's not like it disturbs anyone - Jesus snores _way_ louder than we'd be reading." He bit his lip before finally raising his head to look at Lena, his brown eyes wide and full of worry. "Is Callie going to be in trouble?"

With a small, soft smile, Lena sighed. "I don't know, Bubba. But running away violates her parole."

"Oh," there was a moment of silence, "Was she already in trouble - like what Mariana said?"

"Miss Thing... Mariana doesn't always no what she's talking about. Whilst in the past there may have been some truth in what she said, that doesn't make it so for Callie. She's not - she's not in trouble, not with us."

"Oh." There was another moment of silence. Unlike the previous one, however, this time it was full of nervous energy, and as both mothers watched Jude chew on his bottom lip, it became increasingly apparent that he was trying to work up the courage to ask something.

"Yes?" Smiling tenderly, Lena gently bumped shoulders with him, "What is it you want to ask, Bub?"

"Why-? Did-?" Taking a deep breath, the twelve year old tried again. "Do you know if she was mad at me?"

"Mad at you? Why would she be mad at you?" Stef lent across the table, frowning slightly as she tried to work out the young boy's reasoning.

"Because she's gone and she didn't say goodbye and, well, she _left_ me." Pain filled his voice as he willed his eyes to remain tear-free.

"Oh Jude."

"Oh Bubba."

Simultaneously, both women sighed and reached out to comfort him.

"I've seen the way your sister is with you - we all have. There's _no way_ that she could ever be so mad at you that she'd leave you behind. I'm certain that she'd have her reasons and - no matter how misguided they may be - they would be the only reason why she'd prise herself away from you, do you understand me?" Stef shot him a wry smile.

"But...but what if I _did_ something, and it was a bad thing to do? M-maybe it stopped her from loving me quite so much. M-maybe she got fed up of protecting me - of taking the blame for me." Fat tears slid down his cheeks as he sobbed.

Both women exchanged a look.

"What d'you mean, Bubba?"

"I-I did something r-really b-b-bad, and I think she m-might have tried to p-p-protect me ag-again." The tears were falling quicker now and he let out a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself.

"What do you mean?"

"What did you do?"

"I-I hurt him."

"Who? Hurt who?"

"Who did you hurt?"

"M-my old f-foster f-f-father." With a shaky gasp, Jude looked from one foster mother to the other and back again. "I think I might have killed him."


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey, wahey another update. I'm not sure if the twist was really obvious or not but yeah, so, you can kinda hit the pieces of puzzle togther now (though you may already have guessed it all xD )**

 **So in case you can't tell, this chapter is a flashback one - remember chapter 8, yeah well this is a very very *very* similar one, but witha couple of added details... xD**

 **As always, if you like it, please please pleeeease review, follow or favourite. Also feedback is *always* appreciated and if you have any requests/ideas as to how you want it to go, let me know and I'll see what I can do xD**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. At all. Ever.**

 **Chapter Twenty-Seven**

 _"Fucking bitch, who the hell do you think you fucking are?!"_

 _Jim Pearson was more than just angry, he was absolutely bloody livid. His face had turned a violent shade of magenta and his pupils had contracted as he became enthralled with rage._

 _"Well, I'm pretty sure - though there's always the chance that I'm wrong - that I'm Callie Jacob. That said, you should probably already know that - you know, seeing as you're fostering me and are currently my legal guardian."_

 _She knew that she shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have_ tried _to provoke, but it was either that or cry, and Callie Quinn Jacob did not cry - no matter what. However, that said, she was well aware that responding in a smartass way guaranteed troubled and would most likely be a decision she'd later regret._

 _She rubbed her jaw. He'd smacked her over an hour ago, during dinner time, and it was still sore. She hoped that it wouldn't end up bruising, however her seemingly never-ending bad luck meant that it was unlikely to go her way._

 _"FUCKING BITCH!" Jim's yell violently tore her away from her thoughts as he made to grab her, only to stumble slightly due to a lack of co-ordination caused his inebriation._

 _Darting away from him, she smirked, almost glad that he'd been drinking due to the advantage it gave her._

 _"You know, considering your usual, below-average levels of intelligence, you might want to lay off the alcohol - it kills brain calls and you_ clearly _need all the ones you've still got."_

 _He glowered at her, the look in his eyes going past fury to something further, something far more dangerous - pure, unconditional hatred. As he slowly moved forwards toward her, his hands curling into huge fists and his expression menacing, she knew that she'd gone too far. And, quite suddenly, she was absolutely fucking terrified, frozen to the spot as he made his way over to her, barely stumbling as his hatred for her quickly sobered him up._

 _She couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't hide. Instead, she could only wait, wait and see what happened._

 _It was then that she realised that she didn't know where Jude was - was he in their bedroom, still getting ready for school, or was he now in the kitchen, or eating a bowl of soggy cereal as quickly as he could, so that the minute this fight had stopped she could take him to school? Either way, it didn't really matter, not really. He'd be able to hear them no matter where he was in the house._

 _She felt guilty about that, she really did. She_ knew _how much her brother hated the yelling, hated the fighting, hated hearing his sister getting the crap beaten out of her on a daily basis, but still, she provoked him, with snide remarks and less-than-subtle eye rolls. Which meant that it was always really her fault. Because of_ her, _their foster father got cross, because of_ her _she'd end up getting hurt, and because of_ her, _Jude ended up getting scared. So really, it was all her fault._

 _But she wouldn't change it, wouldn't stop behaving the way she did. Because, so long as she was the one getting hurt, Jude was fine. He was safe, and that's all she ever wanted._

 _A heavy punch in the stomach threw her from her thoughts and caused her to double up in pain._

 _"BITCH! YOU FUCKING LITTLE_ BITCH _! DON'T FUCKING SMART TALK ME, YOU LITTLE WHORE!"_

 _He punched her again, and again, waiting for her to fall to the ground before kicking her hard in the ribs._

 _Black spots danced across her vision as the air was expelled from her lungs, but she shook her head, drawing a deep, ragged breath as she desperately tried to ignore the pain. He kicked her twice more, each with more force than the previous, before grabbing her by the hair and slamming her against the wall. Whilst one hand held her hair, keeping her in place, the other wrapped itself around her neck, pushing down on her windpipe._

 _She choked, wheezing slightly, as she tried to breathe, tried to scream, tried to_ beg _for him to stop. But she couldn't. Weakly, she tried to push him away, and, when that failed, she attempted to find something - anything - to use in order to force him to let go. Her fingers found the neck of a vase. Slowly, she tried to lift it, hoping that he wouldn't notice, hoping that it'd work._

 _There was a noise, the loud '_ smack!' _of a hard, solid object hitting something... less so._

 _Jim Pearson stumbled back, loosening his hold on her and allowing her to escape._

 _He tripped over the edge of the sofa as he tried to see what had hit him, and stumbled forward, bumping into the old oak drawer that stood by the wall opposite to where she was still standing, panting slightly. He stumbled again, falling this time, and as he did so his arms flailed wildly until one caught the edge of the drawer. He tried to pull himself up using it, but failed, instead tipping the piece of furniture over, causing it, and all the items on top, to fall onto him. Unable to stop herself, she winced as one by one the photo frames that had covered the top of it slid off and onto his head, each one smashing and causing shards of glass to fly._

 _He didn't move again._

 _Then again, how could he?_

 _Jim Pearson was well and truly dead._

 _Looking up, she met the wide eyed stare of her twelve year old brother. In his hands, he still held the thick steel baseball bat that he'd hit his foster father over the head with._

 _"Jude, what did you do?!"_


End file.
